Human
by kanna-chan94
Summary: Mako gets a letter from her cousin Charles, inviting the Shinkengers to America. Little does anyone know the danger that everyone has been put in, or the possibility tha one of the Shinkenger's own is a mutant. SEQUEL TO WF VS SHINKENGER; TxM, CxK;
1. Save Tonight

**A/N: So...I've been meaning to put this up for a few days (also since I saw the episode of Gokaiger when they get the power of the Gingaman), and here it is! Something that's completely unrelated to Gokaiger AND Gingaman!**

Everything that's **BOLD** will be someone saying something in Japanese  
>Everything that's NORMAL FONT will be someone saying something in English<br>Everything in _Italics _will be either Kotoha talking with Tetomu, Tetomu speaking, a flashback/vision, or telepathy

**kanna-chan does not own Super Sentai, Samurai Sentai Shinkenger, X-Men, or X-Men: First Class. The only things kanna does own are any original things that she decides to throw in.**

**ON WITH THE SHOW!**

* * *

><p>"Charles, are you sure about this," Erik asked his friend, as Charles prepared to put Cerebro on his head. Raven and Hank were looking at Charles as he stared at the wired helmet in his hands. "You shouldn't do this. You already put enough strain on your powers as is, and-"<p>

"Erik," Charles replied, "We don't have a choice. We have to recruit more mutants. Shaw may be our greatest foe yet."

"He's our only foe so far."

"Precisely. I sense your hesitation, my friend. Trust me, I'll be fine. We have to do this."

"We already have-"

Raven slammed her fist onto the table that had Hank's Styrofoam coffee cup standing on it, and it fell, causing coffee to get on a variety of important documents. Hank looked at her as if she had gone crazy, but Raven just glared daggers at Erik, before saying, "Erik, shut your yap, and let Charles do it. While I agree with you, you do NOT want to argue with a telepath. You'll never win."

Hank and Erik just stared at Raven, and Charles put Cerebro on his head, and braced himself for the mental and physical impact that would hit him in three...two...one, and...

_WOOSH!_

The impact was so powerful, Charles would have fallen down if it weren't for the metal bar behind him he was using to brace himself. Images of various people rushed through his head. Yet, there was one that caught his eye. It was of a beautiful young woman in a black and white striped turtleneck, jeans, and a pink jumper. She had long, dark brown hair, brown eyes, and was writing in another language on a piece of paper, while sitting next to another girl who was doing the same thing. When the long-haired girl finished writing, the writing on the paper turned into a miniature whirlwind. His eyes widened when he finally realized who it was, but the girl that he knew wasn't the mutant.

The mutant was the girl sitting next to the girl he knew. The unknown girl was a little shorter than the girl that Charles knew, and wore a pair of really short jeans, but her hair was short and curly. The unknown girl also wore a grey shirt with a yellow jacket and knee-high black and white striped socks. She was doing something similar to what the girl he knew was doing. Charles managed to pull himself out of Cerebro, only to find that he felt almost completely drained. He would have fallen down if Raven and Erik weren't there to catch him. Erik let his friend catch his breath, before asking, "What the hell happened?"

Charles took a deep breath before answering, "I just saw someone I knew. Someone I haven't seen or heard from in over ten years."

"Who?"

"My cousin. Mako Shiraishi."

"Your cousin's a-"

"No. She was near someone that was, though, and I was shocked to see that. I have to get in touch with her, fast."

"Where does she live?"

"Japan."

There was a moment of silence, where Charles, Raven, and Hank stared at each other. "Japan," Hank asked, "how is this possible? You're not of Japanese descent...right?"

Charles smiled. "You're right, Hank. I'm not. Before he died, my father insisted that we go to Japan and get in touch with his family. He was adopted into a family of Samurai, and was Mako's mom's adoptive brother. Mako is a descendant of a Samurai family along with four others, all from separate families, who have served as retainers under the feudal lord. These Samurai retainers were known as the Shinkengers. Mako's mother was one of these retainers, serving as ShinkenPink, the Samurai of Sky. This has gone on for seventeen generations...until now. Now it's eighteen generations."

Erik stared at Charles, along with Hank and Raven. Erik, Hank, and Raven then turned to look at each other, and a silent agreement seemed to pass between the three of them. Erik turned back to Charles, before saying, "Fine. Get in touch with her. But, assuming you are right, and she is in the middle of her samurai duties, we're not pestering her any further. Am I clear?"

Charles nodded. "Crystal."

* * *

><p>It had been a few months after the death of Mitsuba, and Kotoha would still cry herself to sleep sometimes. Either that, or she'd wake up crying from nightmares. Kotoha would sit outside, play her flute for a few minutes, and walk back inside. Kotoha continued to keep her promise to Elder Orghi of the Ginga Forest, and not once had the subject of the Forest come up in conversation with anyone.<p>

It was worse for Kotoha when she was in a room where not a lot of people were talking. It was as if people were, but Kotoha heard their voices inside her head instead of coming out of their mouths. What on earth was going on? First super strong Mojikara, now this? Was she turning into some kind of freak? Even Tetomu didn't know.

It was a Thursday night at the Shiba mansion, and Kotoha stared at the sky as she sat outside on a rock. Tears silently streamed down her face as she thought of the funeral that took place the week before

_Kotoha had just finished her eulogy. Rather, she made it halfway through her eulogy before bursting into tears on the spot. She struggled to finish it, but couldn't, and Chiaki came up and finished reading it for her. He escorted her back to her seat, before they both sat down. Chiaki held Kotoha close to him. It pained him to see her like this._

_When the funeral finally ended, Kotoha heard something. It sounded like the rustling of a bush. She turned around, looked past her sister's casket, and saw a familiar figure in green from her past. Hayate and the other Gingamen. "**Kotoha. Kotoha,**" Chiaki said, trying to get her attention._

_Kotoha shook her head. **"S-sorry. What is it?**"_

_"**You spaced out for a sec. Was Tetomu speaking to you again?**"_

_"**N-no. It's nothing. Can I just have a few minutes alone with my sister? Please?**"_

_"**Are you sure?**"_

_"**Please.**"_

_Chiaki sighed. "**Sure. Take your time. We'll wait for you at the mansion.**" Kotoha nodded and Chiaki turned around and walked away._

_Once everyone from the funeral had left, the Gingamen walked up to Kotoha. "**I thought...I thought you wouldn't come,**" Kotoha cried into Hayate's shoulder._

_"**You can blame Hayate for that,**" Ryouma replied._

_"**Yeah, he's the one who got us all to come here,**" Saya added._

_Hayate just listened to Kotoha cry and cry. It pained him to see his 'little sister' like this, but it also pained him to see Mitsuba lying dead in a casket. When Kotoha's cries quieted down, he whispered to her, "**We have flowers from the forest to put in the ground with her. May we?**" Kotoha nodded. When they went to the casket, Hayate stayed back the longest to whisper some final farewell words to Mitsuba, before going back to Kotoha._

_"We can't stay long," Gouki said._

_"**We have to get back to the forest,**" Hikaru added, "**that, and we don't want to keep you for too long. You friends could get suspicious. We trust that you've kept your promise, though.**"_

_Kotoha nodded as tears silently streamed down her face. "**Come visit us when you can,**" Hayate said, before walking away._

Kotoha's thoughts were interrupted by a shriek of delight coming from the room that she and Mako shared. She ran back inside, wiping her tears, only to find Mako talking to Jii. "**Mako-chan, what is it,**" Kotoha asked.

Mako turned to Kotoha with a big smile on her face. She grabbed Kotoha and ran out into the dining area, where the other Shinkengers were sitting and talking. "**Everyone, my cousin in America**-"

"**ANOTHER cousin? Damn, Nee-san, how many cousins do you have,**" Chiaki asked.

Mako shrugged off the question, before continuing with, "**My cousin in America, Charles Xavier, sent me a letter, inviting us to come and visit! He's offered to pay for our flights and everything.**"

Takeru sighed. This was sounding all too similar to when they met the Wild Force Rangers. "**Jii, PLEASE tell her that we can't go...**"

"**Takeru, America would be good for you! Besides, I checked the return address, and they're just a few hours outside the city...you know what that means,**" Jii asked, bouncing up and down.

"**Really bad American chefs trying to replicate good sushi,**" Genta asked.

Ryuunosuke slapped him on the back of the head, and Jii answered with, "**No! Broadway!**"

All the Shinkengers stared at Jii. "**Really, Jii,**" Ryuunosuke said with exasperation in his voice after a moment of silence, "**Broadway? They mock the true theatrical art known as kabuki!**"

"**Ryuunosuke, it's America. Their theatrical arts are different there. You should know that.**"

"**So, are we going or not**," Chiaki asked. Kotoha just stared at the floor.

Takeru sighed, and then turned to Jii. Jii sighed, before saying, "**I suppose you'll go. The Gedoushuu haven't been as rampant as usual. If they're still in America, that's currently unknown. The Sukima Sensor can't go that far. Besides, I have a good feeling about this Charles Xavier character. Your flight leaves in two days, so I suggest you start packing tomorrow morning.**"

* * *

><p>It was two days later, and the Shinkengers finally arrived in the Westchester County Airport in New York. Mako re-read the letter, and it said that her cousin would be holding up a sign with her name on it. Mako continued to scan for the sign, as she, Takeru, Genta, and Ryuunosuke lead the way through the airport. Chiaki stayed close to Kotoha, who continued to stare at the ground as she pulled her suitcase along. It was one of those times Chiaki wished he was a mind reader; then he would know how to get Kotoha to feel better.<p>

It had to have been about twenty minutes later or so, when the Shinkengers finally saw the sign with Mako's name on it, being held up by who the Shinkengers assumed was Charles Xavier. He was surrounded by a group of five people; four boys and a girl. Mako ran over to her cousin and hugged him.

Charles was happy to see his cousin, too. It had been over ten years since he had seen or heard from her. Yet, despite how happy he was for the family reunion, he knew what he had to do. "Right," Charles said, pulling out of the hug, "I suppose introductions are in order. I'm Charles. This is Raven," he pointed to the girl, "Alex," he pointed to one of the boys, but this one had blonde hair and was fairly muscular, "Sean," he pointed to the second boy, who had red hair, "Hank," he pointed to the third boy, who wore glasses, "and Erik," Charles finished with, pointing to the last boy, who was the tallest out of the entire group. "So, who are your friends?"

"This is Takeru," Mako replied, pointing to each person in question, "Ryuunosuke, Chiaki, Kotoha, and Genta. It's so great to see you after all this time, Charles!"

Everyone else mumbled their "nice to meet you's," and walked up to someone. All except for Kotoha. She continued to stare at the ground. Alex seemed to notice this, and said, "Professor, we really should be going. We don't want to be late for dinner, now, do we?" Charles looked over at where Alex was looking, and saw what he was getting at. Charles nodded, and gestured towards everyone to head to the cars.

Meanwhile, Kotoha was alienated from everything going on, because she heard her teammates' voices in her head again, and the voices of the group that Charles Xavier was with. Everyone was thinking stuff along the lines of, "Why is she staring at the ground," or, "Damn, she's staring at the ground again. What the hell is her problem?"

"Hey, you all right," a voice asked. Kotoha was pulled out of her thoughts by this new voice, and looked to see the blonde, muscular boy, with a concerned expression on his face.

"Wh-what?" Kotoha asked.

"Just asking if you're all right. I'm Alex, by the way."

"Kotoha. I'm fine. Just a headache. Nothing to worry about."

"Are you sure? Because-"

"I'm fine, but thank you." She walked away, and Alex couldn't help but think about how beautiful she was, and how he had to help her with...well, whatever it was that she was going through.

* * *

><p>Charles was hiding something. Clearly, Mako didn't notice, and none of the other Shinkengers noticed either. The moment that they walked in the door to his mansion (which was met by several oohs and aahs by the Shinkengers), Kotoha heard a voice in her head that sounded a lot like Charles thinking, "<em>We can't tell them about the true purpose for their coming here. That one of them is a mutant. We can't afford to tell them.<em>"

Mutants? That was a new word for Kotoha. She politely excused herself from the conversation and asked where the library was. She had to figure out what that word meant. When she walked into the library, though, it was HUGE. How on earth was Kotoha going to find a dictionary?

It had to have been at least an hour later when she finally found a dictionary. Now if only she knew how to spell the word. It had to have been about twenty minutes later when she finally stumbled upon the definition: "(n.) an organism (usually otherwise human) who possesses a genetic trait called an X-gene that allows the mutant to naturally develop superhuman powers and abilities. Human mutants are considered to be of the subspecies homo sapiens superior, an evolutionary progeny of homo sapiens, and are considered the next stage in human evolution."

Kotoha stared at the definition. "Surprised, I see," a voice said. Kotoha slammed the dictionary shut, and whipped her head around, only to see a man with brown hair in a blue sweater and khaki pants. Yet, what stood out about him was his voice and his ocean blue eyes.

"Who are you," Kotoha asked.

"Charles Xavier. And you?"

Kotoha was just about to respond when the door to the library burst open, revealing Genta and Takeru running in. "**Kotoha! There's an Ayakashi right outside the mansion,**" Genta yelled.

"**Got it. Let's go,**" Kotoha replied, standing up and running out of the library with Takeru and Genta. Charles had no idea what anyone said right then and there, but the moment he looked out the window, he saw Alex, Raven, Sean, and Erik writhing in agony on the ground. Charles couldn't help but ask himself what the cause was.

And then he saw it: a monster with a giant blue head that had multiple mouths on it, and red eyes. His main mouth looked like the nose of an elephant. His body was red, and he was holding some kind of sword that looked like it was made out of stone or something. Charles hid behind a wall just as Takeru, Genta, and Kotoha ran out. Nobody noticed him. All he could do was just watch how the fight played out. Still, he couldn't help but ask himself; were these the other samurai? How? There were only five warriors; not six.

Takeru, Genta, and Kotoha finally arrived on the scene about five minutes later; only to see maids writhing in agony on the ground, complaining for food and drink. "**It's about time you got here,**" Chiaki exclaimed, fighting off some Nanashi Renjyuu. He was currently transformed into ShinkenGreen, and Mako and Ryuunosuke were also fighting in their respective colors.

Kotoha and Takeru got out their Shodophones and shouted, "**Shodophone! Ippitsu Soujo!**" They each drew their respective kanji for 'Earth' and 'Fire' as they henshined into ShinkenYellow and ShinkenRed respectively.

Genta got out his sushichanger, and shouted, "**Sushichanger! Ikkan Kenjou!**" The kanji for 'Light' appeared in front of Genta, which caused him to henshin into ShinkenGold. Unknown to the Shinkengers, Charles was watching the whole thing from his hiding place.

Screw the role call; Takeru, Kotoha, and Genta had to help out their fellow Samurai! The fight with the Nanashi Renjyuu definitely took some time, and by the time it was over, Mako and Ryuunosuke were already on the ground in their civilian forms. Chiaki looked, and saw some black sand on their backs, as Mako and Ryuunosuke were in a situation similar to the maids and the Americans. He glared at the Ayakashi through his helmet's visor, and yelled, "What the hell did you do to them?"

The Ayakashi laughed, and shouted back, "I am the Ayakashi known as Sunasusuri! Those that bathe in my sand suffer from a hunger and thirst as bad as death! Eat and drink all you want, you'll just hunger for more!"

"How cruel," Kotoha whispered. The rest of her teammates were quickly caught up fighting the Nanashi Renjyuu, but it wasn't too long before the Nanashi Renjyuu were taken out. Now all that was left was the Ayakashi. Takeru, Kotoha, Genta, and Chiaki faced Sunasusuri with their Shinkenmaru out.

"You really think you can beat me," the Ayakashi asked. "I've turned this into a gaki hell!" He shot off some fireballs at the four of them, but Kotoha didn't get out of the way in time and was quickly knocked to the ground. More fireballs were aimed at her, and she got hit three more times, causing her to switch back into her civilian form.

Charles could only look on from his hiding place. He struggled to get into the demon's mind, but he couldn't. All there was there was darkness and shadow. Charles had so many questions: what was the yellow samurai's power? What was gaki hell? How come there was a sixth samurai warrior? Why wasn't any of this mentioned in his books?

"Your efforts are futile," Sunasusuri laughed, "and now you shall suffer a hunger and thirst as bad as death itself!" He fired off three rounds of his sand at Kotoha, and just when she thought she was a goner, she heard the sand hit something. Rather, something_s_.

It was Takeru, Genta, and Chiaki. They took the hit for her.

"**Tono-sama! Gen-san! Chiaki,**" Kotoha cried. Tears were slowly going down the girl's face as she struggled to get up and fell back on the ground. Takeru, Genta, and Chiaki wound up in a position similar to the others on the ground.

The Ayakashi laughed, before gasping and realizing aloud, "Looks like I'm out of water! I'd better get out of here!" The Ayakashi disappeared into a crack in the ground.

When Charles thought it was safe, he ran over to Kotoha to make sure she was okay. He tried to read her mind, but for whatever reason, he couldn't. It's almost as if there was something, or someone, blocking it. He had to investigate further, but now wasn't the time. All he could do was put a hand on her shoulder, and ask, "Are you all right?"

All Kotoha could do was nod and whisper, "It's all my fault."

Charles sighed. She appeared to be in shock. "Kotoha," he started, "I understand the situation you're in right now, but you have to help me. We have to bring everyone into the mansion and tie them up so they don't go nuts over the refrigerator." He held out a hand, which Kotoha took. She drew the kanji for 'rope' with her Shodophone, and Charles grabbed the rope and tied it around the other Shinkengers, mutants, and maids.

* * *

><p>It was nighttime, and Charles was in his study with several Japanese history books and notebooks open on his desk. He had taken over ten pages of notes, and had four giant books on his desk. He learned that a gaki was in fact a demon that lived in thin bodies that beat the stomach. He shuddered at the thought, which made his stomach turn.<p>

However, it still didn't answer all his questions. What were Kotoha's powers? She definitely had some; even if she didn't realize it yet. The silence was so peaceful; he was so glad he decided to soundproof the room Sean decided to train in and put the people who were hit with the sand in there instead. Charles smiled to himself.

It was a few minutes later when Charles heard something. It was a sharp but sweet sound coming from outside. Charles got up from his desk and was then hit with a massive headache. He looked at the clock, and saw that it was nearly midnight. The only person-apart from himself-that hadn't been hit with the sand was Kotoha.

He quietly walked outside and followed the sound to the back of the house. Charles then saw Kotoha sitting on the grass playing what looked like a flute. He slowly walked closer to her, but she must have sensed him coming, because she stopped playing and put her flute down, before looking behind her. "**Sorry,**" she said, wiping the fresh tears that were on her face. Charles looked confused, before Kotoha realized that she was speaking the wrong language. "Sorry. Didn't mean to wake you."

Charles shook his head as he walked up to Kotoha and sat next to her. "You didn't wake me at all. I was up. Couldn't sleep, so I did some research," he replied.

Kotoha turned her head so she was facing forward and just stared off into space. Suddenly, her appearance changed into a Japanese woman wearing a white dress with a gold collar. "_You're worried about her, aren't you_," the woman said.

"Who are you," Charles asked. "I can tell you're not Kotoha."

"_I am Tetomu. The-_"

"The priestess of Sky Island from over three thousand years ago."

"_So you've done your research._" Tetomu smiled.

Charles nodded. "Your English is very good for someone who doesn't speak it that much."

"_Kotoha has been helping me._"

"Kotoha? How?"

"_It's a long story._"

"Well, we have time." Tetomu sighed, and told him everything that happened months ago. Everything from the trip to America to Kotoha being Tetomu's reincarnation, and then some. There was a moment of silence, before Charles said, "So you're basically inhabiting Kotoha's body."

"_In a nutshell, yes._" Tetomu suddenly felt a drain, and could tell that she held control of Kotoha's body for too long. "_It appears I have to go. Taking control of Kotoha's body like this takes a toll on her._"

"Wait. I have one question. Have you noticed anything...strange about Kotoha?"

"_Strange? In what way?_"

"Has she been...hearing things? Seeing things? Is her-what was the word? Mojikara?-stronger than usual?"

Tetomu sighed, and could feel Kotoha struggling under the strain. "_I'm afraid that's something even I cannot answer. At least, not right now. She hasn't been talking to me as much. Ever since her sister died, she's been...well, not really the same. I have to go._" There was a small light, before Kotoha came back, and she was sweating and gasping for breath.

All Charles could do was struggle to process the information he was given. "You were just talking to Tetomu, weren't you," Kotoha asked, as she tried to catch her breath.

Charles sighed. "Yes," he replied, "I was. Did you hear-"

"Everything? Yes." Kotoha looked at the ground. "I really wish she wouldn't do that. I've told her so many times to warn me before taking over, but she still doesn't." Kotoha fidgeted with her flute. She could tell it had been almost an hour and a half, but she couldn't bring herself to find a room to sleep in. "It's all my fault."

"What is?"

"What's happening to my friends. And yours. If only I was stronger, I could've-"

"There's no way you could have-"

"No, there was. How do you know, anyway? You're not even a samurai." Kotoha sighed, as fresh tears began to make their way down her face. "I wasn't even supposed to be a samurai."

"What happened?"

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"I don't want to force the answer out of you. I'm a-"

"Telepath." Charles gasped. How did she know? "I know," Kotoha continued, "You're the one who's been trying to hide the fact that you and those friends of yours are mutants."

Charles looked at her. "What else do you know?"

Kotoha wondered if she should tell him that she also knew that one of the Shinkengers was a mutant. She decided against it, before saying, "That's it."

Charles could tell that she was lying, but decided not to pry any further. What he did ask, however, was, "How did you know that I'm a telepath?"

"Because...I think I'm one, too. I think I'm the mutant that you're looking for."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Holy crap! Kotoha is a mutant! Dang...where is this going to go? How will the others react when/if they get out of their hunger/thirst? Why am I asking you all these questions? Reviews are love! See you in the next chapter (or in another one of my stories)!**

**Song: Save Tonight  
>Artist: Eagle Eye Cherry <strong>


	2. Bittersweet Symphony

Everything that's **BOLD** will be someone saying something in Japanese  
>Everything that's NORMAL FONT will be someone saying something in English<br>Everything in _Italics _will be either Kotoha talking with Tetomu, Tetomu speaking, a flashback/vision, or telepathy

**kanna-chan does not own Super Sentai, Samurai Sentai Shinkenger, X-Men, or X-Men: First Class. The only things kanna does own are any original things that she decides to throw in.**

**ON WITH THE SHOW!**

* * *

><p>"Because...I think I'm one, too. I think I'm the mutant you're looking for." The words Kotoha just spoke kept ringing in Charles's head. He was shocked.<p>

"What makes you think that," Charles asked.

"I've...it's weird, but I've been hearing these voices that sound like my teammates', but..." Kotoha trailed off, and Charles figured out what she was about to say.

"They're not talking, though, are they?"

Kotoha shook her head. "It all started a few weeks after my sister died. Well, the telepathy part did. This other thing, though...I'm not really sure what it is."

"Try to explain it."

Kotoha shook her head again. "I think it's better...if I show you. You might want to brace yourself, though." Kotoha closed her eyes, and focused on the memory of her battle with Chiotome, and projected it to Charles. Charles's eyes widened, as he saw the battle before him. It was almost as if he was living through the battle with Kotoha, and paid careful attention to the warrior in yellow. He noticed her power over the earth; just by writing simple kanji, she managed to create earthquakes and sandstorms. Charles managed to pull himself, although it was hard. Kotoha was an untrained telepath, so she'd have to learn how to let people go and how to go into someone else's thoughts; not to mention controlling her power over the earth. "Now you see," Kotoha said. She sighed. "What will my teammates say when they find out?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"Do you think-"

"Tetomu has something to do with it?" Kotoha looked at Charles in surprise. "Just a hunch. I think she has something to do with the telepathy, but as for your power over the earth, that's entirely your own."

Kotoha sighed again, and looked at the ground. "Great. Just great. Just when things are somewhat under control, _this _happens. I'm a mutant. A freaking mutant. Just great."

"It-"

"Don't say that. It doesn't get better. I just lost my sister a few months ago, and her death was my fault. If everyone says it gets better, then," Kotoha swallowed the urge to cry, "then why is it that I cry myself to sleep every night? Why do I wake up from nightmares of the battle against Chiotome, and then just burst into tears? Why isn't it getting any better?" The earth began to tremble just a little bit under their feet as Kotoha stood up.

"Kotoha," Charles whispered, "calm your mind." Kotoha failed to listen to Charles, as she wrote the kanji for 'earthquake' with her Shodophone. The earthquake was suddenly amplified, and while the Xavier mansion was in great shape, Charles suddenly flew into the air and then fell on the ground. He struggled to get up and make his way to Kotoha. "Kotoha! Calm your mind!"

The earthquake's magnitude increased, and Charles wasn't sure what to do. That's when it hit him. Well, a tree branch hit him first, but the thought hit him second, and he gathered up all his strength. He put two fingers to his temple, and mentally projected, as loud as he could, "_Kotoha! Stop! Calm your mind!_" The earthquake was still going, as a jolt went through Kotoha's body. The earthquake stopped suddenly, and she collapsed to the ground on her hands and knees, gasping for breath and sweating. She grabbed her temples in pain.

Charles knelt down beside her, and placed a hand on her back, gently rubbing it, as he went back into her thoughts once more. She was in shock from everything that just happened. Between discovering her hidden abilities and that battle against that monster-demon-thing, it wasn't surprising.

Charles tried to put relaxing images on her head, when he got an idea. "_Kotoha_," he whispered to her telepathically, "_focus. Focus on the earth. Draw strength from it." _Kotoha shook her head. "_Kotoha, please. Trust me._" And with that, Charles guided her hand to the ground, before he closed his eyes and sent her images of nature. That's when he felt it. The earth-or something-pulsed underneath him. He opened his eyes, and looked at Kotoha. There was a yellow glow around her body, as she took in energy from the earth. She had stopped trembling, and looked to be more relaxed, but she was still crying a little bit.

Kotoha opened her eyes, and the glow faded. She felt a burning sensation along her arms and on her hands. She looked at them, and there was an intricate pattern of vines and leaves tattooed all along her arms and hands. Charles looked at them in awe. This must have been the mark of her mutation. "They're so beautiful," Kotoha breathed, running her hands along the patterns on her arms. She smiled, and wiped the tears from her eyes. "I'm...I'm sorry about earlier. It's just..." Kotoha trailed off.

"You haven't come to terms with your sister's passing yet. I understand," Charles soothed, as he remembered struggling to come to terms with his mother's death. She was as distant as the equator was from America, but she was still his mother.

"Like I said, though, things aren't getting better. I wish I could say they were, but-"

"But what? You were too weak to save your teammates," Sunasusuri asked, coming up from a crack in the ground. He looked angrier than before, and slightly mutated. "We have unfinished business, ShinkenYellow."

Kotoha took a deep breath, and slowly got to her feet. That glow continued to surround her. "It appears as if we do. You've gone far enough, Ayakashi! **Shodophone**," she shouted, pulling out the item in question and drawing the kanji for 'earth.' "**Ippitsu Soujo!**" Kotoha henshined into ShinkenYellow, her Shinkenmaru at her hip, and the Inroumaru on her belt. "**ShinkenYellow! Hanaori Kotoha! Going forth!**"

"You really think you're strong enough to take me down after I took on your teammates and took them out one by one," Sunasusuri asked. "Man, you're stupid. And after all these years, I thought I'd seen everything."

Kotoha ignored the insult and transformed into Super ShinkenYellow, before she got out her Saru Disc and placed it on the hilt of her Shinkenmaru. She spun it, and the sword quickly became surrounded by a yellow spiral, as she shouted out, "I'll show you I'm strong enough! **Shin Saru Mawashi!**" Kotoha began to spin so fast, Charles could barely see her! The moment he actually got a good look at her was when she cut the monster with her Shinkenmaru. He was impressed, but the battle wasn't over yet. The only thing that managed to come off of the Ayakashi was an arm. Kotoha drew back, and shouted, "Now look who's stupid. Your arm's off!"

The Ayakashi smirked. "'Tis but a scratch."

"A scratch? You're arm's off!"

"No it isn't."

"Well, what's that, then," Kotoha asked, pointing to the arm on the ground.

"I've had worse."

"Liar."

"Have at you!"

"You are so dead when this is over," Kotoha whispered to herself, as she charged at the Ayakashi once more. Despite the fact that he had lost an arm, the Ayakashi was just as strong as he was before. He continued to fire off fireballs and more blasts of his sand, but Kotoha managed to dodge most of them. Charles couldn't help but notice how good she was with her...what did she call it again? Moji...something. Anyway, she kept writing kanji in the air that soon turned into walls and rocks that blocked the sand.

Charles knew that she couldn't keep that up forever, though. Power like that obviously took a lot of strength, and he could see it in her speed. She was starting to slow down, and at one point, the Ayakashi grabbed her by the neck, threw her in the air, and as she came down, he slashed at her with his blade, sending her flying, before she fell on the ground. She didn't have a chance to get up before he fired off a volley of spikes, which brought her to the ground once more. She struggled to her feet, before collapsing on the ground. Charles ran over to her. "You don't have to do this," he said.

Kotoha looked at him through her helmet. "Yes, I do," she replied. Charles didn't even have to be able to see through her helmet or read her thoughts to know that her mind was made up. She leaned on Charles for support as she stood up. "You're through," she shouted at the Ayakashi. She placed a different disc in the Inroumaru, and spun it. The Inroumaru was quickly replaced with what looked like a bazooka gun with the head of a bull. She placed her Shinkenmaru on top of it, before charging the weapon, and shouting, "**Gedou Fukumetsu!**" A light that was shaped like a bull charged toward the Ayakashi, who exploded upon contact. Surprisingly, though, this one didn't have a second life either. "Again," Kotoha asked, as she de-henshined.

"Again what," Charles asked.

"This is what happened to us when we came to America the last time. The Ayakashi never used their second lives."

"Strange. Do they normally use their second lives?"

Kotoha nodded. "They do. We usually have to use our origami." Kotoha pulled out Saru origami, who quickly went into its mini-monkey form. "They do get bigger, if that's what you're wondering."

Charles laughed, before suggesting that they go inside.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, the other Shinkengers finally came to, as well as the other mutants. "Ugh...I feel like crap," Alex stated, as he rubbed his temples.<p>

"You're not alone," Sean replied, as he took a deep breath. "What was that thing?"

Takeru took care of answering Sean's question; including explaining about the Shinkengers, Gedoushuu, and Ayakashi. Chiaki, on the other hand, couldn't stop staring at a beautiful blonde haired, blue-eyed girl wearing black. "What are you staring at," she asked accusingly, turning to face Chiaki.

"Wh-nothing," Chiaki explained. "Just wondering what your name was, that's all. I forget."

The girl sighed. "Oh. I'm Raven. And...you're...Chung, right?"

"Chiaki. Chiaki Tani."

"My bad. Sorry. These Japanese names are new."

Raven enjoyed talking to Chiaki, and as soon as Kotoha and Charles walked into the room, that feeling of happiness was quickly replaced by a feeling of jealousy and anger, as Kotoha hurled herself into Chiaki's arms. Chiaki hugged her and whispered to her in Japanese. Raven wasn't sure why she felt so jealous and angry over a simple hug. She'd have to do some detective work.

"It's late," Charles commented, "and we have to train tomorrow." He turned to the Shinkengers, and said, "Would you care to join us?"

"Training," Ryuunosuke asked. "What do you mean?"

"I know you're the samurai who fight against Chimatsuri Doukoku. Samurai Sentai Shinkenger. Isn't that right...Takeru Shiba, 18th head of the Shiba clan?"

"How did you know," Takeru asked in shock.

"I read Sean's mind," Charles said. "I suppose an explanation is in order."

Just as Charles was about to explain, Kotoha mentally spoke to Charles, asking, "_Please don't tell them about me. I'm...not ready for them to know yet._"

"_Of course,_" Charles replied. He then spoke aloud, "Mutation: it is the key to our evolution. It has enabled us to evolve from a single-celled organism into the dominant species on the planet. This process is slow, and normally taking thousands and thousands of years. But every few hundred millennia, evolution leaps forward..."

* * *

><p>"Sir," Emma Frost asked, walking into Sebastian Shaw's office on their private submarine, "you have visitors."<p>

"Visitors," Shaw asked, looking up from his paperwork, "how? We're at least three thousand feet deep."

"I don't know, sir," Riptide said.

"The heater just started glowing, and they appeared as if they came from inside it," Azazel added.

"Can we kill them," Angel asked.

"I'd rather we didn't. They should be interesting. Angel, Riptide, bring them in here. I wish to have a word with our...guests," Shaw said wryly.

Angel and Riptide exchanged a look, before heading down to the heater in question. Shaw sighed, before Emma said, "You're intrigued, aren't you?"

"You wouldn't have to be a telepath to figure that out," Shaw replied.

"These...visitors. They didn't look...human."

"Your point?"

"My _point_ is that most mutants have a somewhat human appearance, don't they? There's that little blue girl who can change into any other person, Azazel...these people...they look...well..._weird_."

"I heard that," a female voice commented, as the female demon, her companion whose head looked like some kind of octopus, and a demon who was being dragged between the two of them. Angel and Riptide appeared behind the two of them. A look of comprehension and awe appeared on Shaw's face. "Sebastian Shaw...it's been far too long," the female demon commented, walking up to him.

Emma took on her diamond form, before stepping in front of Shaw protectively. Shaw put a hand on her shoulder, and said, "Stand aside, Emma." Emma glared at Shaw, before going back to her normal form and moving away. "Dayu...is it really you," Shaw asked.

"No, it's me, the milk man. Of course it's me, you idiot," Dayu laughed. She turned to her companions. "This is Shitari of the Bones," she said, pointing to the one with the octopus head.

"Dayu, you never told me about this man. Who is he? What can he do," Shitari asked.

"I'll tell you what. We'll show you ours...if you show us yours," Shaw smirked.

"You can't possibly be serious," Emma exclaimed. "How do you know this...Dayu, anyway?"

"It was a long time ago. Sometime in the 1940s, during the Holocaust," Shaw replied, reminiscing about the old days. "She was the one who observed _klein_ Erik Lensherr before reporting to me that he might have been a mutant. Of course, he is, but that hardly matters now. Dayu and Shitari are what are known as Gedoushuu."

"Gedoushuu..." Emma pondered. "You mean, those demons that the Shi-"

"Precisely," Shaw replied. "While it is great to see you, I doubt that you came just to say hello. It's been over twenty years."

"So, we showed you ours. What can you do," Shitari asked.

"Bring forth your demon," Shaw asked. Dayu and Shitari shoved the demon that they brought with them forward, and Shaw placed his hands on it. There was much screaming on the demon's part, before it began to glow, as well as Shaw's hands. Soon, the entire demon had been absorbed into Shaw.

"So, you're a mutant, too," Dayu asked. "You can absorb energy?"

"That demon was made up of dark energy. I can absorb and manipulate energy. You've already seen what Emma can do. The rest of you: go on, show off," Shaw replied.

* * *

><p>It was the next day at the Xavier Mansion, when all its occupants were woken up by a screaming. Namely, Sean's screaming. Clearly, there was a reason why they called him Banshee. The Shinkengers all interacted with the different mutants. Hank was interested in Genta's ability to use technology as a substitute for mojikara, and Erik and enjoyed talking to Takeru quite a bit. Charles enjoyed catching up with Mako, considering they hadn't seen each other in years. Chiaki was happily conversing with Raven, while Ryuunosuke couldn't help but find himself repeatedly annoyed at Sean's antics. Probably because his screaming woke everyone up. Kotoha sat by herself, as she drank from a steaming mug of hot chocolate. She stared at the cup, as she remembered the night before. It was still hard to believe that she was actually a mutant. "Hey," Alex said, as he sat in a chair across from her, "You all right?" Kotoha nodded. Alex whispered, "Relax. Charles told us."<p>

"He did," Kotoha asked. Alex nodded. "You know, it's a lot to take in. This whole..." Kotoha trailed off and saw Chiaki looking at her and Alex, along with Raven.

"I know. Coping with it is hard. You just...I don't know, get used to it, learn to live with it...something along those lines," Alex replied, redirecting her gaze back to him. "So, who is that guy anyway?"

"Who, Chiaki?"

"Yeah, him."

"He's ShinkenGreen, the Samurai of Wood, and...my boyfriend, for all intents and purposes. Why?"

"Something seems kinda strange about him. The way he looked at all of us when he found out what we were. He looked almost...angry, or fearful. One of the two."

"He clearly seems to be interacting with Raven just fine."

"Well, her mutation is-"

"Kotoha," Chiaki interrupted, walking up to the two of them, "Can I talk to you for a sec?" He glared daggers at Alex, before adding, "Alone?"

Kotoha exchanged a quick look with Alex, before telling him that she'd be right back.

* * *

><p>Chiaki pulled Kotoha into what appeared to be the living room. There was a large grand piano in the corner, and book shelves adorned the walls. "<strong>What's your deal with him,<strong>" Chiaki asked.

"**What do you mean,**" Kotoha responded. When Kotoha noticed Chiaki's expression, she quickly replied, "**Relax, we were just talking! If anything, he wants to know what your deal is with him.**"

"**My deal,**" Chiaki sighed, "**is that he is a mutant. A freak. They all are! We shouldn't be here with...them.**" Chiaki took care in sneering at the last part.

"**A freak**," Kotoha countered, "**then what does that make those Ayakashi and Gedoushuu that we fight? What about Doukoku and Fuwa Juzo?**"

"**That's different. They're all monsters, and it's our destiny to fight against them. These freaks are just beasts who walk around in human form.**"

"**Really, now? You seem to be getting along with that Raven girl just fine.**"

"**This. Is. Different. Raven...is just uncomfortable in her own skin.**"

"**I thought...never mind. It's stupid.**"

"**What?**"

"**No, it's not important.**" Kotoha turned around and looked at the ground, willing for tears not to fall from her eyes.

"**Kotoha, you know you can tell me anything. Spit it out!**"

Kotoha turned back to face Chiaki, before saying, "**You know, I used to think I could. Now, I'm not so sure.**" And with that, she walked away, leaving Chiaki in confusion about what she meant. What couldn't she tell him? Why didn't she think she could trust him?

* * *

><p>Kotoha went back to her room on the third floor of the mansion, only to find a pair of grey sweatpants at the foot of her bed, with a note. The note said, "Compliments of the CIA. Hank." She smiled, before changing into it. As she changed, she remembered what she said to Chiaki. She really wasn't sure if she could trust him. Especially after he just said that mutants were freaks. Did that mean that if she told him that he was a mutant, she couldn't be a Shinkenger? She didn't know the answer to that, and longed for Mitsuba to still be alive so that she could know the answer.<p>

Once changed, Kotoha began to look for a way outside, thinking she'd vent for a while by practicing her mojikara, or running, or something. As she looked for a door outside, she quickly bumped into someone, also wearing grey sweatpants, but this person was wearing a grey sweatshirt. She looked up and saw it was the tall guy who was standing with Charles at the airport. She couldn't remember his name.

"S-sorry! I was just looking for a way outside, and-" Kotoha started.

"Don't worry about it," Erik interrupted, "I was on my way outside, too. I'll show you the way."

"Thanks..." Kotoha trailed off, as she struggled to remember his name.

"Erik."

"Right. Thanks, Erik."

"Not a problem." The two walked in silence, before Kotoha accidentally saw inside his head. She saw numbers being branded on a boy's arm, the same boy being taken from his mother, and that boy's mother being shot in the head. "What the hell," Erik asked slowly, turning around, "were you doing in my head?"

"I'm sorry," Kotoha replied, "sometimes it just happens, and-"

"That's not an excuse! I don't care that Charles told you that you were one of us; you had NO right to see that! Any of it!" Erik used his powers to take out Kotoha's Shodophone and throw it out the window while they were still on the third floor. Once it hit the ground, it shattered into several pieces.

"NO," Kotoha shouted.

"**_Kotoha, calm down_**," Tetomu asked, trying to reason with the young samurai.

"**_HOW can I calm down? He broke my Shodophone_**," Kotoha mentally shouted. She lost it. She glared daggers with Erik, and punched him in the mouth. Erik, who hadn't expected that, didn't even guard, as he took the hit. This girl packed quite the punch, literally. She ran downstairs, with tears of anger and sadness streaming down her face, as she looked for a way outside.

When she finally did find a way outside, she found her Shodophone, lying in pieces on the ground. She dropped to her knees, and cried out in anguish. Now, without a Shodophone, she couldn't do anything for her team. Her thoughts were a mix of anger, pain, sadness, and rage. It would take a miracle for the Shodophone to be put back together, given how many pieces it was in. Some of the pieces were the size of a grain of sand, and others weren't much bigger than that.

* * *

><p>The other occupants of the Xavier Mansion all heard Kotoha's cry of anguish, as they followed Charles outside. On the way out, though, they saw Erik, who was clutching his mouth in pain, as he struggled to get out his side of the story. Something along the lines of, "She was in my head, and-" before holding his mouth again. Charles dragged Erik outside with the help of Alex, as they all ran to Kotoha, who was on her knees, holding several metal pieces in her hands, crying. The Shinkengers gasped, as they saw what the metal pieces were: her Shodophone. "Kotoha," Takeru gasped in shock.<p>

Mako looked at Kotoha, then at Takeru, and then back at Kotoha, before saying, "Who did this?"

Kotoha looked up from her Shodophone, before glaring daggers at Erik and pointing to him. "H-he-he threw it out the window on the third floor," Kotoha cried.

"You did this," Mako asked accusingly. She got out her Shodophone and was thinking about using it when Erik spoke.

"She was-" Erik started.

"I don't want to hear another word out of your damn mouth," Ryuunosuke shouted. He took out his Shodophone, before drawing the kanji for 'wave' and sending it towards Erik, who was quickly soaked with water.

Erik quickly shook off what just happened to him, as he advanced on Ryuunosuke, preparing to punch, when Takeru stepped in front of him. "You mess with my friends," Takeru said, anger growing by the second, "then you mess with me. Do I make myself clear?" Takeru pulled out his Shodophone, before adding, "Or do you still not understand the message?"

"Crystal," Erik sighed in anger, stepping back. "What's the point, anyway? She's useless as a Samurai now."

"Erik," Charles scolded, as his friend shrugged his shoulders. Raven simply looked neutral, while Hank, Sean, and Alex all looked at Erik angrily, along with the other Shinkengers.

Kotoha, however, gazed at the earth. "What Erik's saying...it's true," she said, as tears went down her face.

"Kotoha..." Takeru gasped.

"Koto-chan..." Genta added.

"**Tono-sama**," Kotoha sighed, switching to Japanese, "**I can't be a samurai without my Shodophone. I won't be able to transform. I won't...**"

"Hank, what's she saying," Raven asked, walking over to him.

"Why are you asking me," he responded.

"Well, you're the smart one!"

"I don't speak Japanese."

"I'll help out," Mako replied, as she quickly translated for them.

"**Koto-chan...**" Genta whispered, tears going down his face, as he went to hug her. She embraced her comrade, before letting go and walking over to Takeru.

"**Tono-sama,**" Kotoha asked, "**can I talk to you? Alone?**" Takeru nodded, and they walked away towards the front of the mansion. "**I have to tell you something. But...you can't tell the others.**"

"**What is it**," Takeru asked.

"**I'm...I'm one of them. I'm a mutant.**"

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: So...I know this is shorter than my usual chapters. Blame...well...anything really. I blame writer's block. Anyway, brief rundown: Raven and Chiaki begin to develop feelings for each other, as Kotoha learns more about her powers, and all the others learn about mutants and mutations. Dayu and Shitari have teamed up with Shaw. Kotoha's Shodophone is destroyed, and she reveals the truth to Takeru, asking him not to tell anyone. What's next for our heroes? Why do I sound like that narrator guy from Pokemon? Well...find out in the next chapter! TTFN! R&R! Reviews are love!

**Song: Bittersweet Symphony  
>Artist: The Verve <strong>


	3. Set Fire to the Rain

Everything that's **BOLD **will be someone saying something in Japanese

Everything that's NORMAL FONT will be someone saying something in English

Everything in _Italics _will be either Kotoha talking with Tetomu, Tetomu speaking, a flashback/vision, or telepathy

**kanna-chan does not own Super Sentai, Samurai Sentai Shinkenger, X-Men, or X-Men: First Class. The only things kanna does own are any original things that she decides to throw in.**

**Oh! I just remembered! Shraffe1001: In answer to your question, you're right that the phones are supposed to be stronger than the suits. However, Kotoha's phone was dropped from the third floor window in the Xavier Mansion, and everything happens for a reason.**

**ON WITH THE SHOW!**

* * *

><p>Takeru tried to process the information Kotoha had just given him. It was hard to believe, not to mention that she told him that everyone else who was living in the Xavier mansion was a mutant as well. "<strong>What do you want me to do about it,<strong>" Takeru asked, unable to say anything else. While it wasn't as much of a shock as it should have been, Takeru was still surprised.

"**I-I don't know**," Kotoha stammered. "**I just...**" Kotoha shrugged, as tears threatened to fall. "**I just thought that...**"

"**Kotoha, there's nothing I can do about this,**" Takeru tried to explain to his retainer as gently as he could, placing a hand on her shoulder. "**However, and I hate to put more on your shoulders, but you have to make a choice now.**"

"**A choice?**"

Takeru nodded. "**You can either stay here and train and learn to control your...mutation, or come back to Japan with us, and fight Doukoku.**"

Kotoha looked at Takeru in shock. While she was expecting this, that didn't make it any less surprising. "**T-Tono-sama...**" Kotoha stammered, tears falling form her eyes.

"**I don't know what else to tell you. I can't make your decision for you**," Takeru replied, sighing. It hurt him to see Kotoha like this. "**What I can tell you to do is follow your heart. Do what you think is right.**"

Kotoha nodded, and wiped her tears. "**Thank you, Tono-sama.**" She smiled up at Takeru, before they both turned and walked away. Kotoha kept walking, only to bump into Alex. "Were you listening this whole time?"

"Well, yes, but I didn't understand a word of what you were saying," Alex replied, as he grinned sheepishly. "Everything okay? Erik's a jerk, that's nothing new. His past...he's a Holocaust survivor, and he doesn't like it when anyone pokes around in his head. He's just getting used to Charles doing it."

"But it was—"

"An accident. I know. And I think that even if Erik knows that, he's still touchy about it. Just...give him some space. That's the best advice I can give. It'll get better." Kotoha smiled. Alex loved seeing her smile. Kotoha had to have been the most beautiful girl he had seen. She was so pretty, and her smile was contagious. He also had this need to protect her, no matter what the cost. "So...what were you and Takeru talking about?"

"I...I really don't want to talk about it now, Alex. Maybe later."

"Okay. Just know that if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here. So is everyone else. Well...except Erik. His ego..." Alex shuddered. "It's about as big as half the mansion." Kotoha laughed, as she felt a huge sense of trust with Alex, something she hadn't felt with Chiaki.

* * *

><p>Raven had it with Kotoha. She couldn't take the way that Chiaki looked at her anymore, and she couldn't take the way Kotoha looked back at him. It made her so angry, she wanted to hit something. She probably would have, if there was actually something to hit in the bathroom that wouldn't break.<p>

That's when she got an idea. Damn, she had been so stupid! She could just use her mutation to get to Chiaki. Blue rippled throughout her skin, as she changed her form. She was an exact replica of Kotoha in every way. Or, almost every way. She didn't speak Japanese. Well, she could easily find her way around that bump in the road.

She walked out of the bathroom, and amazingly enough, everyone was outside. Takeru was talking to Mako about something or other, and Erik was getting grilled by Charles about breaking Kotoha's...phone thingy. The others were all busy just mingling with each other.

Raven finally found Chiaki in the kitchen. She walked in, still looking like Kotoha, as she said, "Hey."

Chiaki jumped up, startled. "**Kotoha! You startled me**," he exclaimed.

Raven, not understanding a word that Chiaki had just said, had to maintain the disguise. What was something that Kotoha would say? That's when it hit her. "Um...could we talk in English, please? I feel like I need to practice my English."

Chiaki gave Raven a confused look, before nodding his head. "That Erik guy...he broke your Shodophone! What an asshole."

"I couldn't agree more. But now...I can't be a Samurai. Anyway," Raven paused, as she tried to recall what Chiaki told her about his fight with Kotoha, "I wanted to apologize. I was wrong to treat you that way. I can trust you. It's just...there's so much going on."

"It's okay," Chiaki replied. Suddenly, and before Chiaki knew it, Raven went in, and pressed her mouth to his, kissing him. He kissed her back, and this went on for a few minutes, before,

"**Chiaki? I was looking for you and**-" Kotoha stood in the entryway to the kitchen, and her sentence got cut short, as she saw the scene before her. She changed into a grey tank top, hoping to go for a run, before she heard Chiaki's voice and stopped to investigate.

Chiaki suddenly heard the voice, and whipped his head to the source, only to see Kotoha standing there. "**Kotoha? But...how...**" Chiaki looked from Kotoha to Raven in confusion, before Raven gave a cruel smile and shifted back to her normal blue form.

"**Chiaki...why**," Kotoha asked, tears streaming from her eyes. Chiaki and Raven suddenly felt the ground tremble under their feet.

"What the hell is going on," Chiaki asked, turning to Raven, who was just as confused. The level of the trembling suddenly increased, and was slowly turning into a full on earthquake. "This isn't funny! Whoever is doing this, please stop," Chiaki shouted to no one in particular.

What Chiaki failed to notice was that Kotoha was the only one unaffected by the earthquake, as her eyes blazed with anger. They went from being that warm brown they usually were to a predator-like yellow. The tattoos that Chiaki had just noticed on her arms were suddenly glowing.

"Kotoha," a voice shouted, followed by others calling out Kotoha's name. Chiaki and Raven turned around to see Charles, Sean, Alex, Hank, Takeru, Mako, Ryuunosuke, Genta, and Moira, who the Shinkengers just met. Erik wasn't there. "She was projecting," Charles explained, out of breath, "and I could see that something was wrong—" Charles and got cut off, as the earthquake increased in magnitude once again, and everyone was suddenly sent flying around the room by the force of the earthquake.

"Charles," Raven cried, trying to run towards her brother, before being stopped by a stone wall that seemed to rise up out of the ground.

"Raven," Charles cried.

"Oi, Takeru," Chiaki shouted, "what the hell's going on?"

Takeru, seeing he had no choice, had to break Kotoha's trust. He knew that he promised he wouldn't tell, but given the situation, he didn't have a choice. "She's a mutant," Takeru shouted, "and this is a part of her mutation! You must have provoked her or something!"

"Pro-What do you mean 'provoked her,'" Chiaki shouted back, clueless as usual.

Even Tetomu tried to get to Kotoha inside her head, but nothing Tetomu said or did worked. Charles put two fingers to his temple, and focused on Kotoha, before wincing in pain. "Her mind...it's screaming," Charles shouted. "I can't get through!"

"Charles," Erik asked, just walking into the room, before he finally took in the scene in front of him. "What the hell...never mind. I don't want to know. Just leave it to me." And with that, Erik grabbed onto Kotoha's shoulders, and hoisted her up into the air. The shaking stopped. Kotoha took a deep breath, and her eyes went back to the normal brown they usually were. As if Erik knew what was about to happen next, he gently set her on the ground, before she slumped over.

Everyone turned to look at Erik. "Well, _I _could have done that," Sean said, rolling his eyes.

* * *

><p>"Do you think we can trust her," Emma asked Shaw. They had just finished meeting with Dayu and Shitari, and the other mutants had proudly displayed their powers. Emma wasn't so keen on Dayu, though. There was something strange about her. Emma was absentmindedly cutting holes in little glass squares with her diamond hands.<p>

"I don't just think, I'm positive. Apparently, according to outer intelligence, her enemies are in the same area as ours are. Apparently, our telepath friend has been doing a little recruiting of his own," Shaw replied, as he turned a page in his book. Angel, Azazel, and Riptide were off playing cards somewhere, and Dayu and Shitari were in another room, doing who knows what. "I don't see what you have against her. She's very smart."

"Nothing. It's just...I've never met her, and I guess it might take me a while to...warm up to her, I guess." Emma stopped cutting holes in the glass squares, before she changed her hands back to normal and turned on the TV. Some newscaster person was talking about how the Jupiter missiles placed in Turkey were presenting an unprecedented threat to the people of the Soviet Union. The Russian Prime Minister was quick to insist that the Russians would not be the first to initiate any military action.

Shaw laughed, as he closed his book. "Yeah, we'll fix that as soon as we get to Russia," he said, laughing.

Emma turned to face him, before she said, "Unless the CIA find us first. Or those other people. The Shinkengers."

"No need to worry. I'll take care of them, too."

Emma sighed. "If that telepath gets inside your head, he won't be as much fun as I am."

"Already at hand, my love," Shaw replied, before standing up and walking over to a small table with a black box on it. It looked like some kind of case. "The Russians," Shaw said, as he opened the case, "made me this." He took out a helmet and put it on. The helmet was silver, and it completely covered Shaw's forehead, the bridge of his nose, the back of his head, and his cheeks. He turned to Emma, and asked, "So? What am I thinking?"

Emma concentrated as hard as she could to read Shaw's mind, but to no avail. That helmet was blocking her telepathic powers. "I don't know," she replied.

Shaw laughed, and responded, "I was thinking that you are the most exquisite thing I've ever seen in my life." Emma smiled, but that smile soon faded, as Shaw said, "And that this needs ice." He gestured to a drink sitting on a stool near his armchair. "Fetch me some." Emma sighed, before taking the drink and walking out of the room. "There's a good girl."

"Or is she," Dayu asked, just appearing in the room through a small crack in the floor.

Shaw sighed. "You know I hate it when you do that," he replied.

"I knew you did then; I was hoping it had changed."

"Well, no. It hasn't."

"A shame," Dayu answered, plucking a string on her Shamisen. The sound echoed throughout the room. "That red mutant of yours...Azazel, or whatever his name is, told me all about your plans to start World War III."

"I'll deal with him later. Why did he tell you?"

"Oh, a little persuasion will get you anywhere, my dear Sebastian."

"Let me guess. You don't want to. You think it's too-"

"Oh, not at all. In fact, I think it's a perfect idea. Our targets are in the same area. This way, we kill two birds with one stone. I have plans to bring Chimatsuri Doukoku back to this world, and with World War III, the humans will panic and die, and he will be revived once again. Besides, there's one Shinkenger I've had my eye on, and I think I have the perfect way to bring her down. I thought for sure it would work with the last Gedoushuu, but it didn't. The Gedoushuu died. However, the yellow Shinkenger and her team has had to deal with her depression for quite some time now. It's also my understanding that she is now a mutant."

"What did you have in mind," Shaw asked, intrigued.

"I have come across another Gedoushuu. They call her 'Bone Woman' in English. It's said that she has the power to control the dead."

"The dead?" Dayu nodded. "Just people? Or animals, too."

"Anything. Even vampires."

"Vampires?" Shaw laughed. "Vampires don't exist."

"You haven't been to Bon Temps, Louisiana, have you?"

"Unfortunately, no. I have heard rumors of that synthetic blood the Japanese invented, though. True Blood, right?"

Dayu nodded. "You're missing the point. My plan is to have the Gedoushuu get here. However, it could take a while, given we're underwater. That, and she doesn't really know her way around. She fell to Gedou only a few hundred years ago, so she's still learning. I'll fill you in on the rest of the details later."

* * *

><p>"And that's what happened," Kotoha told Alex as she hugged him tightly. Tears were flowing down her cheeks and getting his sweatshirt wet, but he didn't care. Alex moved Kotoha to his room when she lost consciousness and stayed with her the whole time. Her flute sat on the night table. He closed the door so that no one else would wake her. "I just lost control, and-"<p>

"Hey, it happens," Alex replied, hugging her back, as he held her at an arm's length. "Before I gained control of my powers, I put myself in solitary confinement. I thought my powers were a danger to society, and I was letting them control me. Then Charles found me, got me out, and helped me gain control."

"Yeah, but you have this," Kotoha gestured to Alex's chest, where the thing that focused his plasma rays was. "I just...I don't know, lose control, and sometimes I don't even know it's going to happen. The telepathy's even worse...getting into people's heads, seeing personal things...I just hate it! I-oh, no, not now." Kotoha suddenly felt Tetomu trying to take over, as she turned away and concentrated. "Please, Tetomu, not now."

"Tetomu?"

Kotoha nodded as she concentrated on trying to stop Tetomu from taking over. Charles had filled in the other mutants on the situation, but it seemed as if the only one who actually understood was Alex. Finally, Tetomu let up, seeing that she would have to talk to her vessel later. "That's better," Kotoha commented, as she sighed in relief.

"Hey," Alex said, turning her head so that she was looking at him, "we'll get through this. Trust me." He took a hand, and wiped her tears away. Kotoha nodded, and gave a small smile. Alex could see she wasn't entirely convinced, but it was a start.

There was a knock at the door, before it opened, revealing Takeru and Genta. "**Tono-sama...Gen-san**," Kotoha stammered.

Genta, unable to restrain himself, ran to the young Samurai and hugged her with everything he had in him. "**Oi, Genta**," Takeru said, trying to pry his friend off, "**she's still recuperating. Try to give her some breathing room.**"

"**Right**," Genta replied, pulling away from the hug, "**sorry**."

"Damn, could you speak in English for once? I can't understand a thing," Alex complained.

Kotoha, seeing the situation that had the potential to take place, quickly asked, "Alex, do you think you can leave the room for a few minutes? I want to talk to them." Alex nodded, as he reluctantly left the room, closing the door behind him. She then turned to Takeru and Genta. "**I assume you're here for a reason**."

Takeru nodded. "**Kotoha, Genta and Mako and Ryuunosuke and I did some talking, and...we think it's best if you stay here. I mean, it's your decision, but let's face it; your powers are unstable. Without your Shodophone, you can't transform. How will you be able to fight Doukoku?**"

"**I can use my**-"

"**It's too unstable**," Genta said ruefully. "**Koto-chan, if there was another way...**"

"I don't want to hear that bullshit," Kotoha shouted, standing up sharply, grabbing her flute, and walking out the door, slamming it behind her. Kotoha was crying tears of anger and rage, as she walked. What she failed to notice, however, was that Alex, Sean, Erik and Charles heard the entire thing from behind the door.

"_Now_ do I have permission to beat up those jerkwads," Alex asked.

"Alex, you know better. Violence doesn't solve anything," Charles answered. He sighed, as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I'll go with Alex and go after her. Erik, Sean, you talk to Takeru and the others. That other boy...Chiaki, or whatever his name is...we'll just leave him to his own devices for now." Nods were exchange, as Alex and Charles took off in one direction, Erik and Sean in another.

Alex and Charles raced through the mansion trying to find Kotoha, until Alex tripped over something. He got up, before taking a look at what he tripped over. It looked like a small robot monkey. It had yellow Japanese kanji on either side of it, and was angrily shaking its arms. "What the hell is this," Alex asked, picking the small thing up and showing it to Charles.

"Saru Origami," Charles replied, remembering seeing it in one of his many books. "Saru means 'monkey' in Japanese, and these creatures are called Origami, even though they're not made of paper. This must be Kotoha's." As soon as Saru Origami heard Kotoha's name, it lept out of Alex's hands, and started to race outside. "I think it wants us to follow it," Charles said. Charles and Alex exchanged the look before following the Origami.

It was a few minutes later when Saru Origami led Charles and Alex outside. Kotoha was sitting down in the grass, just staring into space. Saru Origami ran and jumped onto Kotoha's shoulder, and she tickled it under its chin absentmindedly. Saru Origami did a flip, before going back to its triangular form and just lying in Kotoha's lap. Kotoha felt something in the earth, before realizing there were people in the area. "What do you want," she asked, not turning around to face Alex and Charles.

Alex and Charles walked up to her, before sitting on either side of her. "I—that's to say we—heard you and Takeru and Genta arguing," Charles explained.

"Eavesdroppers," Kotoha whispered angrily under her breath.

"Hey, for the record, we couldn't understand a word that was being said until you left the room," Alex commented. "What were you talking about anyway?"

Kotoha sighed. "You know how there was something that I didn't really want to talk about with you earlier? Tono-sama—Takeru—is forcing me to make a choice: stay here, and train with you, or go back home and fight the Gedoushuu. When Alex left the room that I was in, Takeru said that he thought it was better I stay here. He said—" Kotoha swallowed a lump in her throat, as tears threatened to spill, "he said that I was basically useless. I couldn't transform, and my mutation was unstable. He said I should stay here."

"Well, what are you going to do," Alex asked.

"I think—" Kotoha was cut off by a yelling sound that was coming closer from the mansion. She turned around to see Chiaki walking outside with Takeru. There was quite a bit of yelling going on between the two, and Mako, Ryuunosuke, Genta, and the other mutants soon followed. Clearly they were all arguing about something. It wasn't until they had gotten a lot closer that Kotoha realized what.

"Do you really think I give a damn that she's our teammate," Chiaki shouted, "You're all freaks! She should stay here, and good riddance! At least her sister wasn't one of these monsters." Raven started to protest, but was immediately silenced by one look from Erik. Hank and Sean just wanted to start beating the crap out of Chiaki; he was making them so mad.

"Tono," Ryuunosuke piped in, "this hasn't happened before. We've never had a teammate who wasn't...well...human, for lack of a better word."

"Still, it's hardly fair," Mako cried. "It doesn't matter that she's different, she can still fight! She can—"

"No. I can't," Kotoha whispered, walking up to the Shinkengers and the other mutants. Alex and Charles were close behind her. She looked Takeru straight in the eye, before saying, "Tono-sama...I've made my decision."

Takeru nodded. "And...?"

Kotoha sighed. "I'm staying. Clearly you don't want someone different on your team. Besides, Chiaki's right. I am a freak. I am useless. Without my Shodophone..." She trailed off, and walked up to Mako first. Kotoha wrapped her arms around the girl she thought of as her big sister. "**Mako-chan**," Kotoha whispered, silently crying, "**thank you. For everything.**"

"**Kotoha**," Mako whispered to the younger Samurai, "**are you sure you want to do this?**"

Kotoha nodded as she pulled away from the hug. She then walked over to Genta, who looked like he was about to start crying. "**Koto-chan**," Genta whispered, as tears went down his face.

Kotoha smiled through tears of her own, as she hugged him. "**Gen-san, thank you. You're amazing. Just do me a favor**," Kotoha asked.

"**Anything**," Genta replied.

"**Go kick some Gedoushuu butt for me, okay?**" Genta laughed through his tears and nodded. He squeezed Kotoha extra tightly one more time, before letting go and watching her walk to Ryuunosuke.

"**Ryuu-san**," Kotoha whispered. Ryuunosuke also looked like he was about to start crying.

"**Kotoha, if this is what you're heart's telling you to do, then do it. Besides, we'll all be right here,**" Ryuunosuke whispered, as he pointed to Kotoha's heart. She smiled, hugged him, and walked back to Takeru.

"**Tono-sama**," Kotoha stammered, "**thank you. For everything.**"

"**Are you sure this is what you're heart's telling you to do**," Takeru asked.

Kotoha nodded. "**Definitely.**"

"**You'll be missed around the mansion**."

"**I'll miss you guys, too. But...I know this is the right decision.**" She hugged Takeru, who hugged the younger Samurai back. She pulled away from the hug, before going to stand with the others.

"**Hey, what am I? Chopped liver**," Chiaki asked. He still hadn't grasped what Takeru had told him and everyone else during the earthquake. There was no way Kotoha could be a mutant.

"**I have nothing to say to you**," Kotoha replied curtly. She turned to face him, as her eyes flashed a brief yellow, before saying, "**You think mutants are freaks? That we don't belong? Well, I see where I stand. Here, with people like me.**" Kotoha turned back to face the other mutants, and Charles whispered something to Alex, before Alex, Sean, and Hank took Kotoha inside.

"I think you should leave," Charles sighed, turning to the Shinkengers. "Your presence here...I don't mean to sound like I'm getting rid of you, but Kotoha seems to be struggling to cope with this herself. It's hard for all of us. Her power...it's not just over the earth. She's a telepath. Like me. She can hear your thoughts in her head, and I think that's one of the hardest things to cope with."

"I think you're right," Takeru and Mako said in unison. Mako slipped her hand into Takeru's, and they walked up to Charles.

"Thank you for everything," Mako whispered to her cousin, hugging him. "Can we come back and visit sometime?"

"Definitely," Charles smiled, pulling away from the hug. "You're family."

Mako turned to Ryuunosuke, who nodded. He wrote the kanji for 'big' on Ryu Origami, as it enlarged and the Shinkengers, minus Kotoha, flew away back to Japan.

In the Xavier Mansion, Kotoha looked out the window in her room, and saw the Origami leaving, with her former teammates in it. A tear silently slid down her cheek.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: OMG! I don't think _anyone_ was expecting that...I don't think I was! I was just listening to "Set Fire to the Rain" Adele one day, when I thought to myself, "What if _this_ happened?" So...yeah. Anyway, announcements from kanna-chan (announcements, announcements, ANNOUNCEMENTS~**)

**-Mutant design contest is officially announced! I will be taking any and all mutants, but here is the criteria in how they're submitted:  
><strong>

**Said mutant must be submitted by PM, but say that you're entering in a review...I don't want people to suddenly start fighting with each other**

**Mutant format for submission:**

**Name:**  
><strong>Age: (if they appear to be a certain age, then write their appearance age and their actual age)<strong>  
><strong>Appearance:<br>Abilities:**

**MUTANT MUST BE A BAD GUY WORKING FOR SHAW! IF LISTED AS WORKING FOR PROF. X, IT WILL NOT BE IN THE CONTEST (unless, of course, I really like it, and just want to have it change sides, but I probably won't do that...)**

**Pretty short, right? Easy enough? Good. I'm hoping to get more than two entries for this...otherwise, I'll have to include both, and I wasn't really planning on doing that in Wild Force vs Shinkenger...anyway, when I decide to end the contest, I'll say that I've ended it, and put everyone's entries up in another chapter of this story, so that you know what every mutant looks like and what they can do, and just who you're voting for. The poll will be up on my profile. Entries will remain anonymous until the winners are revealed.**

**-OK! End of that announcement! Onto the next one: kanna-chan finished this chapter while she was sick (stupid stomach bug going around school), so please excuse any typos/incorrect facts; they will be fixed as soon as I get better!**

**-Dang, forgot one thing to put in the first chapter:**

**Story Title Song: Human**  
><strong>Artist: The Killers<strong>

**-And this is for the current chapter!**

**Chapter Title: Set Fire to the Rain  
>Artist: Adele <strong>


	4. Someone Like You

Everything that's **BOLD **will be someone saying something in Japanese

Everything that's NORMAL FONT will be someone saying something in English

Everything in _Italics _will be either Kotoha talking with Tetomu, Tetomu speaking, a flashback/vision, or telepathy

**kanna-chan does not own Super Sentai, Samurai Sentai Shinkenger, X-Men, or X-Men: First Class. The only things kanna does own are any original things that she decides to throw in.**

**ON WITH THE SHOW!**

* * *

><p>Well, it definitely took a while for Kotoha, but she was beginning to warm up to the others in the Xavier mansion. Alex was always there for her whenever she needed him, and Hank had to be one of the smartest people she knew. Apparently, he graduated from Harvard at the age of fifteen! Sean and his antics were interesting; although there was that one time about a week or so later, when he screamed so loud in his training, that when Kotoha was trying to write something in her room, it shattered the window. Sean had to go and pay for a new one. Raven, on the other hand, was a different story. Although she didn't like Kotoha at first, when Chiaki left Kotoha with the other Shinkengers, Raven quickly became one of Kotoha's close friends.<p>

It was a lazy kind of Saturday (a couple weeks after the other Shinkengers left), and Kotoha smiled to herself as she practiced her calligraphy on some paper with a small bottle of ink and a paint brush. It wasn't her Shodophone, but it would have to do. As she wrote character after character, she sighed, because none of her Mojikara was being used for any of the symbols she wrote. She wasn't really focusing on anything in particular, but she never thought she'd be unable to use her Mojikara. That's when she felt it in the earth. Someone was walking into her room. Suddenly, the bottle of ink spilled over on its own, covering the paper. "Whoever is doing this, this isn't funny," Kotoha called, not looking up from the ground.

"Sorry," Erik apologized, as he walked into the room, in a gray sweatshirt with gray sweatpants to match. "I just wanted to get your attention."

Kotoha sighed. "Well, you've got my attention now. What do you want?"

"I wanted to...erm...apologize. My reaction...that was uncalled for. Raven and I...we said some things that we probably shouldn't have. The thing is...well, perhaps it's better if I show you." Erik rolled up one of the sleeves of his sweatshirt to reveal a series of numbers that looked as if they had been branded or tattooed there: 214782. "Do you know what these are," he asked Kotoha, as he looked right at her.

Kotoha gasped, as she quickly realized, "Those are...identification numbers from the concentration camps of World War II. Then that means...you're a Holocaust survivor."

"Precisely. I'm touchy about it; it's not something I like to talk about. That's why I lost it with you earlier. I'm just getting used to Charles poking around in my head every now and then; another person was the last thing I needed. There's a man who we're after; named Sebastian Shaw. Of course, back then he was known as _Herr Doktor Klaus Schmidt_."

"_Herr Doktor_?"

"It's German. It means Doctor. Doctor Klaus Schmidt."

"Oh."

There was a moment of silence, before Erik added, "He killed my mother. Right in front of me." Erik seemed to be projecting at that point, because Kotoha suddenly saw the image of a little boy standing in front of a desk. A man sat behind the desk, and was speaking in German. There was a woman standing a few feet behind the boy, and she was being held by soldiers who had swastika bands on their arms. Kotoha guessed that the man behind the desk was counting to three, before the man picked up the gun and shot the woman. Another guess made by Kotoha was that the little boy was Erik as a little kid, and the woman was his mom. The man had to be _Herr Doktor Klaus Schmidt_. The boy suddenly shouted out in anguish, and every bit of metal in the room started flying around being destroyed.

Kotoha struggled to pull out of the horrifying memory, as Erik looked at her. She was speechless. "So...Doctor Klaus Schmidt is Sebastian Shaw, who killed your mom all those years ago? And you want to avenge her," Kotoha asked. Erik nodded. "I know how you feel. My sister died not too long ago. Even though I killed the monster that did it, she still died. That thing...it was a beast in human form. However, even though I've already killed it, I still haven't come to terms with it."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that you should listen to me very, very carefully. Killing will not bring you peace."

"Peace was never an option." And with that, Kotoha and Erik both stood up and walked out the door in different directions. Kotoha had taken off toward the library in the hopes to do some more studying on mutation. She still didn't entirely understand the definition. However, as she walked, she couldn't help but wonder if Erik was right. Was peace really not an option?

"**_He might have a point you know,_**" Tetomu spoke up in Kotoha's head.

"**_Shut it, Tetomu. I don't have time for this,_**" Kotoha scolded.

"**_All I'm saying is that he believes something different about mutants. He believes they're all like this Shaw person, but Charles believes that mutants and humans can coexist. Who knows who's right?_**"

"**_It doesn't matter, and it's not my business. Now shut it._**" Finally getting some peace and quiet, Kotoha had finally arrived at the library. It looked just the way it had the first time she had arrived. She took a deep breath and smiled to herself, before going to look for a dictionary and some books on genetic mutation.

As she walked, her eyes came upon something made of wood. It was brown and white, and had several brown and white differently shaped and sized pieces on it. A chess board. There was a big arm chair on either side. Kotoha looked around, and began to walk toward it. She wasn't really that good at chess; Takeru had suggested that everyone learn how to play to learn more about battle strategy, but she never beat anyone. Takeru, Genta, and Ryuunosuke were amazing at it. Chiaki eventually got so bored of it that he threw the chess board on the ground. The memory made Kotoha sigh, as she sat down in the chair by the white pieces. She moved the white pawn at D2 to D4, before sighing again, and just staring at the board.

"You know, chess actually requires two players. It's boring to play against yourself. Believe me, I know. I've tried," Charles spoke, walking into the library and seeing Kotoha at the chess board. "Mind if I join you?" Kotoha shook her head, not looking up. Charles took a seat across from her, on the black side, and moved the pawn at D7 to D5. The two sat in silence, until Charles spoke. "I don't have to be a telepath to know something's on your mind." Kotoha shrugged her shoulders. "Would you care to tell me what's the matter?" Again, no answer. Kotoha shrugged her shoulders again, and moved the pawn at C2 to C4.

Just as Charles was about to reach for a piece to move, his vision suddenly changed. He assumed Kotoha was projecting, when he suddenly saw images of the past of her and her teammates fighting off the Gedoushuu, before more recent images, such as the conversations she had with Chiaki, Takeru, and Genta. The one of her teammates leaving seemed to stand out most of all. Although Charles couldn't understand what Chiaki, Takeru, and Genta were saying, Charles finally pulled himself out of her head. It was still hard, because Kotoha hadn't done any training. She'd have to at some point. Charles shook his head, before moving pawn at D5 to C4. Kotoha moved the pawn that was at E2 to E3, before shrugging her shoulders. "You're right. It's just...I'm a bit upset. And angry," Kotoha sighed. "It's just...I'm a little homesick. I miss Japan. I miss my Shinkenger duties. And I'm angry, because I'm never going to gain control of my powers. It's hopeless. I just can't seem to do anything."

Charles stared at the board in contemplation of his next move and what Kotoha had just told him. Did she really think it was hopeless? He looked up from the board at her, and saw what looked like a sad past in her eyes. Charles didn't pry, and Kotoha wasn't projecting (thankfully), so Charles looked back at the board. He had the feeling that her past was kind of touchy, like Erik's. He picked up the knight at . He answered, "You-"

"Don't bother. It's pretty much true. I'm never going to get control of this," Kotoha muttered.

Charles moved his pawn at B7 to B5, and looked at her. "Kotoha, you're strong. You just have to learn how to control you abilities. Don't let them control you." As he said this, however, he couldn't help but wonder: how did she get to be so good at chess? He wasn't even reading her mind, but Charles knew that the play she was attempting was one of the most common, but also hard to do.

Kotoha moved her pawn at A2 to A4, before saying, "It's not that easy."

Charles moved his pawn at C7 to C6, replying, "Whoever said it would be?"

"It's just...this is just so much. Between Tetomu driving me insane, and trying not to poke around in everyone's heads, it's just...hard." Kotoha moved her pawn at A4 to B5, capturing Charles' pawn. Charles raised an eyebrow. For someone who said she couldn't do anything, she certainly was good at chess. The Queen's Gambit was a hard strategy, and he although he had heard about it, he'd never experimented with it.

Charles moved his pawn at C6 to B5, capturing the pawn that just took the one that was at B5. Kotoha moved her queen from D1 to F3. Charles could easily see that he was in a trap. He couldn't read Kotoha's mind, so she had no idea what she was thinking as she made these moves. Charles took a deep breath, and sighed. He moved his knight at B8 to C6, which was quickly taken by Kotoha's queen. She smiled to herself, seeing that the game would be over soon.

"Charles," Sean called, walking into the room. Hank, Erik, Alex, and Raven weren't far behind him. They quickly saw Charles engaged in a game of chess against Kotoha, and Charles rubbed the bridge of his nose in concentration. He didn't answer them. "It's so intense...you can practically see the sparks flying."

Everyone else laughed quietly to themselves as they stared at the chess board. Charles looked at Kotoha's queen, seeing that there wasn't much that he could do. He decided to move his bishop at C8 to D7, and looked back at Kotoha. "_We have guests, apparently. Shall we continue our chat later_," Charles asked Kotoha telepathically.

"_Yes. But for now, let's finish this_," Kotoha answered in the same way.

"_Agreed._" Kotoha moved her queen at C6 to A6, and a few moves later, Kotoha had finally put Charles in checkmate. He tipped his king over, indicating that he conceded the game to her. The two of them stood up and shook hands, before turning to Erik and everyone else.

"You're late," Alex teased.

"Sorry, got caught up in an intense game of chess," Charles replied, before turning to Kotoha. "How did you get to be so good at chess?"

"Tono-sama taught us how to play. He said that it would help is with battle strategies when fighting the Gedoushuu," Kotoha answered, looking at her feet again. She began to walk away. Charles called out to her, telling her to get changed so that she could start training soon. Kotoha didn't respond, as she continued to walk out. Charles exchanged a look with Alex, who then looked at Erik. Erik shrugged his shoulders, as he went back to his room.

* * *

><p>"<strong>Oof,<strong>" a little girl complained, walking out of the heater of a submarine about three thousand feet underwater. "**I am NEVER doing that again.**" The little girl had short black hair, big purple eyes, wore a black kimono with yellow flowers on it, and a red sash tied around. She looked as though she was about seven years old.

"**About time you got here,**" Dayu spoke. The little girl turned her head with a start, before sighing in relief.

"**Dayu-sama, you scared me,**" the little girl exclaimed.

"**You're late,**" Dayu commented. "**Still, better late than never. Follow me.**" Dayu turned to walk away, and the little girl eagerly followed. Dayu walked in silence back to Shaw's office, the little girl running after her eagerly.

"**Dayu-sama, where are we going,**" the little girl asked.

"**Remember how I told you that you were here for a mission,**" Dayu replied. The little girl nodded, as Dayu continued with, "**You're about to meet one of the people who wants your help. I'm one of them, obviously, but the other person is a little...well, you'll meet him momentarily. Oh, look, here we are.**" Dayu opened the door that they had arrived at, and let the little girl in first, before she walked in. In the room were Shaw and Emma Frost.

"**Hi,**" the little girl chirped, jumping up and down excitedly.

Shaw and Emma looked at the little girl, before looking at each other, and then back at the girl. Shaw sighed, as he ran a hand through his hair. "Dayu, really," he asked. "This is your so-called 'help?'"

The little girl's smile faded, and she slowly walked up to Shaw. Her purple eyes narrowed, and she spoke in a low voice, "I'd watch what you say if I were you. I don't do well when being spoken to like that." She turned around from Shaw, and could see that Emma Frost was positively glaring at her. Her blue eyes looked like ice.

"Why don't you introduce yourself to them," Dayu asked.

The little girl sighed. "Do I have to? After the way they spoke to me? They might as well go fu-" She saw the look that Dayu was giving her, and sighed again. "Fine." She turned back to Shaw and Frost, before giving a small smile and introducing herself. "I'm Hone-Onna. Pleased to meet you."

"Hone-Onna," Frost asked, "Doesn't that mean 'Bone Woman?'"

"Indeed it does. I am the Gedoushuu that Mistress Dayu told you about. And, more importantly, I know what you're up against. And, who you're up against." Hone-Onna turned to Shaw. "I understand that you want to cause World War III, and have mutants rise up to rule. Chimatsuri Doukoku would be pleased at this, so Dayu fetched me to come and help. I have a plan, but here's what we need to do."

"Hold on," Emma cut in, before turning to Shaw. "This girl is seven-"

"Correction. I _was_ seven. I'm actually four hundred and seventy-three. When I died...well, that's a story for another time. You learn to see the world differently over the years, as well as when you become a Gedoushuu. Trust me, I have experience."

"Interesting," Shaw muttered, a plan coming together in his head.

"Now, down to business. I have a plan..." Hone-Onna began, as she began to tell them of her brilliant scheme.

* * *

><p>Takeru sighed as he ate some of Genta's sushi. He couldn't really focus on much of anything nowadays. Kotoha had been gone for over a week, and the entire team seemed to be down. Mako wasn't her usual self, Chiaki kept changing the subject, and Ryuunosuke and Genta were...well...Ryuunosuke and Genta. Takeru just stared at Mako as he ate his sushi. Mako appeared to be deep in thought, until she turned around to face Takeru and ask, "<strong>Why are you staring?<strong>"

Takeru had been caught. He blushed a little, and snickers from the others were heard from behind him. "**Um...no reason. Actually, could I talk to you? Alone?**"

Mako gave Takeru a strange look, before saying, "**Sure.**"

The two of them walked a little ways off from the stand, and far enough so that they were out of earshot by the others. "**You're worried about her, aren't you,**" Takeru asked, his eyes looking straight into Mako's brown ones.

Mako nodded. "**Yeah. I am. It felt wrong leaving her there. I mean, I trust my cousin, but...**" she trailed off, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"**It's for the best. You and I both know that.**"

"**I know, but...Takeru, she's like the little sister I never had. I just miss her so much.**"

"**We'll get through this. For now, though, we have to focus on the task at hand: fighting the Gedoushuu. Other than that, there's not much else we can do. Something tells me that's not all that's worrying you, though, is it?**"

Mako sighed. "**No. Takeru, I**-"

"Takeru," a voice asked, cutting Mako off. When they turned around, they saw a woman with white skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes, walking up to them. She wore a yellow jacket that said 'Soaring Eagle.'

"Taylor," Takeru and Mako exclaimed, shock evident on their faces.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Uh-oh! Taylor is back! Will she go back for Takeru harder than before, or will Mako do everything in her power to fight her off. The new villain, a childlike version of Hone Onna, has joined forces with Shaw and Dayu, but even they don't know what powers she has. Kotoha continues to try to get comfortable in the Xavier mansion. How will everything play out? R&R! Also, PLEASE SUBMIT ENTRIES FOR MY MUTANT DESIGN CONTEST! THE FORMAT IS IN THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER! TTFN! R&R! ~kanna**

**Chapter Title: Someone Like You  
>Artist: Adele <strong>


	5. VOTE!

**A/N: I am soooooooo sorry for making you wait for this update! School and stuff has been getting in the way, but rest assured, this story hasn't been forgotten! Things are about to get interesting in these next few chapters!**

**Disclaimer: see previous chapters**

* * *

><p><strong>Did you really think this was going to be an actual chapter? haha, fooled you! :D<strong>

**Come on, can't a girl enjoy a joke every now and then?**

***silence* I guess not.**

**Anyway...I am OFFICIALLY CLOSING THE MUTANT DESIGN CONTEST!**

**Here are the entries! The people who made them will be made anonymous until the winner is announced. as to when that will be...well...I don't know. It'll happen, soon, though.**

**Anyway, here are the entries!**

**Entry #1: Name: Aramu Hanaori**

**Age: 20**

**Appearance: Black haired Japanese bishonen. His eyes are brown-colored that turn black whenever he is about to use his powers. Always seen wearing black shirt and black trousers. People always mistake him as English, due to his ability to speak in English fluently.**

**Abilities: Can shoot dark flame out of his hand. Flexibility. Reflexes increases. He is equipped with a sword + whip which he can use it to project his powers through it.**

**Add Info: He has no relationship with Kotoha (or is it?). He has a bit of info about Shinkenger's existance. His favorite color is pink. He loves to charm ladies. He also loves to read creepy fanfics made by some creepy fans of certain shows.**

**Entry #2: Name-Shane Rogers**

**age-19**

**skin color-asian**

**Powers: Can shape shift into any animal he thinks of**

**Bio: SHane is a jerk, and treats others like crap. After being abused by his parents for the first 10 years of his life for being a mutant, Shane transformed into a rat and ran away. Was raised on the streets, and fights dirty. His eyes change into the animals eyes as well. Prefers the Gorilla, Bear, and Tiger forms when fighting**

**Entry #3: Name: Ice**

**Age: Immortal**

**Appearance: A girl of Asian descent with ice white hair, silver eyes, and wears black clothing.**

**Abilities: As her name implies, she controls anything and everything related to water. No one can match her when it comes to manipulating ice, water, and the very heavens itself.**

**Name: Ora/Lily - Ora is the mutant's name, Lily the girls - Ora possess the body of Lily**

**Age: Real age 1359 but looks about 8/9 years old - no one knows her real age.**

**Appearence: Young girl. Small, long brown hair with a fringe usually in a half up half down style, slightly wavy. Brown eyes which turn black when she uses her powers or when Ora is in control. Wears a white, short sleeved dress which goes to just below her knees with white pumps. Acts in a childish manner, but when Ora takes over is very serious and spiteful. No one knows what Ora's real appearence is. But she actually looks like an older version of Lily, which is why she chose to possess Lily.**

**Abilities: Can possess the body of others. She can manipulate the will of others without them realising. To do so, she has to have eye contact with them for a couple of seconds. She can also enter the dreams of others and to do this, she just needs to either know what they look like or have a picture of them.**

**Very tough contest! But then again...I won't be deciding! It's you, my ever awesome readers who will be deciding! That's right! This poll will be on my profile with the names of the mutants! Whoever has the most votes by whenever I close the poll wins! And...I'm sorry, but you can't vote for yourself. I'm sorry, but I'm trying to make things as fair as possible. If you vote for yourself, then it's unfair, and...yeah, you get the picture. Anyway, I may or may not throw in a second place winner. As for runner-ups...what you guys will get is either a sneak peek at the next chappy (after the winner is announced).**

**So...yeah. If no one votes, then I'll make the final decision. If it's a tie, the winners are the people who tied. You know the drill. Vote!**

**~kanna-chan**

**PS: chapter 5 (the real one, promise) is coming soon! Just trying to find time to work on it! Here's what I can tell you:**

**Chapter Title: Superman  
>Artist: Bon Jovi <strong>


	6. Superman

**A/N: Here it is! The real chapter 5 of Human! Yay!**

**kanna-chan owns nothing except for her OV, Hone Onna (well...I own this particular version of her at any rate. If you want more info, let me know)!**

* * *

><p>"Taylor," Takeru and Mako exclaimed.<p>

"What the hell are you doing here," Takeru asked. "I mean, it's great to see you and everything, but...this is unexpected."

"I know, I probably should have called," Taylor sighed, "but I got transferred to an Air Force base here!"

"Impressive," Takeru said, as he gave her a high-five. "So...what are you going to do while you're here? Aside from the air force, I mean."

"Not sure," Taylor replied. She sniffed the air. "Is that _nigirizushi _I smell? Let's go! I'm hungry!"

"Wait! Where are your-"

"Oh, I dropped them off at the hotel I'm at." And with that, Taylor grabbed onto Takeru's arm, and started pulling him in the direction of Genta's cart. Mako sighed to herself. Taylor was back in the picture. That was just_ great_. Wonderful. Way to spoil the moment. Still, Mako couldn't help but wonder: what was Taylor doing here? It didn't seem as if Taylor was telling the whole truth. Mako was determined to find out.

* * *

><p>Kotoha was so tired. Erik had made all the mutants run five laps around the mansion. Five laps! Around a mansion that was who knows how many acres big! Kotoha collapsed on her bed, only to hear a knock on her door. "If it's Erik making me come out and run again, the answer's no," Kotoha weakly called out.<p>

"It's Raven," Raven answered, opening the door. She had two bottles of water, and gave one to Kotoha. "Tough work out, huh?"

"Ugh...you have no idea. I hear we're still not done...something about working on our individual mutations? Wonder how that'll work for me."

"I don't want to-hold on a sec," Raven stopped, as she closed her eyes in concentration. "Charles says that they're about to try Sean's wings out."

"Wings?"

"Some kind of flying thing that Hank made for Sean, so that when he screams, the soundwaves will keep him up in the air. Let's check it out!"

Raven dragged Kotoha, who was still feeling really sluggish to where Charles said that they were trying Sean's new wings out. "Now remember," Charles was saying, "scream as hard as you can."

"You need the sound waves to be supersonic," Hank added. "Catch them at the right angle, and they should carry you."

"They _should_ carry me," Sean muttered. "That's reassuring." Sean climbed up to the window ledge near Hank and Charles, as the two of them backed away. All the others were watching out the other window. He took a deep breath, pushed himself off the ledge, and gave a weak and kind of strangled cry, as he landed in the bushes below. Kotoha and Raven laughed, as well as everyone else.

"There's got to be a better way to do this," Charles sighed. He thought for a minute, before turning to Hank, and realizing, "The satellite!"

"Not today," Hank replied, shaking his head. "Sean should work more on his physical training for now. Why don't we work on Kotoha's?"

"M-me," Kotoha sputtered.

"Yes," Charles nodded. "We'll start small."

* * *

><p>"Now, close your eyes," Charles said to Kotoha, as they stood across from each other in the middle of a forest near his mansion. Kotoha just stared at Charles in confusion, before he nodded, as if to say 'go on.' Kotoha did as she was told, and Charles continued with, "Now. Try to raise me up using the earth."<p>

"How," Kotoha asked, her eyes still closed.

"How what?"

"How is this starting small, and how am I supposed to raise you up?"

"Focus on the earth," Charles replied, ignoring the first question. Kotoha concentrated until she felt it. The warmth of the connection with the earth. Suddenly, she smelled fresh pine around her, and all the smells of the plants came in as well. She gasped, but kept her eyes closed all the same. "Looks like we're getting somewhere," Charles mused. "Focus the energy of the connection into your hands." Kotoha suddenly became surrounded by a yellow glow, that went from surrounding her body to just her hands. "Now, hold your hand out towards me."

"But what if I can't control the height?"

"I'll be fine. Now hold your hand out." Kotoha did as she was told. "Now, imagine a stone pillar rising up from the ground, and try to make that image come to life. Raise your hand up slowly, but keep it out towards me." Kotoha gasped, but did as she was told once again. At first, nothing happened. Charles was determined, though. Kotoha continued to concentrate and slowly raise her hand up, and suddenly, a pillar erupted from the ground, and in seconds, and Charles was about four feet up. "Kotoha," Charles exclaimed, looking down, "brilliant!"

Kotoha opened her eyes and looked at the pillar, and gasped when she couldn't see Charles, before realizing he was at the top. "Charles," she exclaimed, before quickly bringing her hand down. The pillar went back to where it came from, and Charles fell onto the ground. "Are you okay," Kotoha asked.

"I'm fine," Charles replied, getting up. "You were fantastic!"

"But I couldn't control the height, and-"

"That's understandable. We're beginning to tap into the basis of your mutation, though. We'll definitely have it under control, soon. In fact..."

"Charles, if it involves dropping me off of that satellite dish with Sean later, and seeing if I can control the earth while I'm in the air, the answer is no."

"Well, thanks for the idea, but that's not what I was thinking. I was thinking we could use your mutation as target practice for Alex."

"Can it wait til I get more control over it?"

"Well, we could start smaller now, I suppose."

"Sure, I-" Kotoha cut herself off, as she suddenly felt something in the earth. It made her jolt, as it was a presence she hadn't been expecting; definitely not in America at any rate. Who was it? Kotoha followed the energy she felt to another part of the forest, only to see a man wearing green with an amulet around his neck.

"Kotoha, what's going on," Charles asked. Kotoha ignored Charles, as she stared at the man in shock.

"**Hayate,**" she asked, as if not believing it was actually him.

* * *

><p>"Hone Onna, are you sure that this will work," Shaw asked. Emma Frost continued to give the girl wary looks, but Shaw and Azazel looked on, intrigued.<p>

"Positive. I just have to get the bones needed. In order to do that, we'll have to recruit a certain man and go to Japan to get to the grave of the person I need."

"What kind of man," Azazel asked.

"A mad man."

"Should we somehow be reassured by this?"

"You never let me finish. We have to recruit a mad man. A nameless man. A man whose name must never be revealed. A man who has cheated death recently at Lake Silencio, Utah. A man who wears...a_bowtie_."

"A bowtie," Shaw sighed.

"I quote, 'bowties are cool.'"

"Who is this man?"

"He's..." Hone Onna climbed up onto Shaw, and whispered the name into Shaw's ear.

"You do realize how hard this is going to be, right? He's a champion of justice."

"I realize that. However, what we can do is recruit the object he used to cheat death."

"What is it?"

"It's called the Tessalecta. It's a robot that can change its shape to any person, and use their voice and everything. The Tessalecta knows everything. If we can get the Tessalecta to be the woman who loves this man, we should be able to recruit him."

"Hm...in that case, I'll leave you and Angel to recruit the Tessalecta," Shaw mused.

* * *

><p>"<strong>Hayate<strong>," Kotoha gasped. "**What are you doing here?**"

"**I heard you were in America. Ryouma and the others are here as well. Elder Orghi has been keeping an eye on you, apparently. He was concerned when you left the forest.**"

"**Why****?**"

"For the love of G-d, doesn't anyone speak English anymore," Charles exclaimed.

"Oh, sorry," Kotoha exclaimed. "Charles, this is my friend, Hayate.** Hayate, this is Charles.**"

"How do you do," Charles asked, holding his hand out. Hayate stared at him in confusion.

"Charles, Hayate doesn't speak English," Kotoha whispered to Charles. Charles nodded in realization, before Kotoha turned to Hayate, and told him to shake Charles's hand, and translated for Hayate. Hayate nodded. "**Hayate, we are going to have to work on your English.**"

Hayate nodded, before he heard a whirring sound. Suddenly, a blue police telephone box appeared in the forest, and a man with a blue bowtie came out. "Hello, Craig! I'm back," he exclaimed. "Whoops, wrong timeline." The man had brown hair, and wore a brown jacket with a strange metal object in his pocket. He also wore a strange hat on his head. Six others quickly came out. There were four boys and two girls. The boys wore red, blue, green, and gray, but the girls wore yellow and pink.

The one wearing red rubbed his head, as he said, "**Doc****?**"

The one in green, who was apparently called 'Doc,' replied, "**Yes?**"

"**It was your idea to take us here, wasn't** **it****?**"

"**No, it was-**"

"For the love of G-d, please tell me someone speaks English," Charles exclaimed. "Now, anyone care to tell me who's who? And _what in the name of sanity is that on your head?_" Charles pointed to the man with the weird hat.

"It's a fez, I wear a fez now. Fezzes are cool," the man replied. "Now, WHO shot my TARDIS?"

"That would be me," the one in red said. "The name's Captain Marvelous, and you kidnapped me and my crew off of the Gokai Galleon! What the hell? What the actual hell?"

"It's not my fault! The TARDIS saw you, and you must have been interesting, otherwise-"

"Oh my G-d," the one in grey exclaimed, running up to Hayate and Kotoha. "GingaGreen and ShinkenYellow! In person!"

"Who the heck are all of you," Kotoha asked, trying to take in the full situation.

"We're Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger. I'm Captain Marvelous, GokaiRed," Marvelous, the one wearing red, introduced himself.

"I'm Joe Gibken, GokaiBlue," the one wearing blue said.

"Luka Millfy, GokaiYellow," the one in yellow said.

The one in green followed with, "Don Dogoier, GokaiGreen."

"My name is Ahim de Famille, GokaiPink," the one in pink said.

"And I'm Gai Ikari! GokaiSilver," the one in grey exclaimed, still going insane after seeing Kotoha and Hayate.

"And you," Charles asked, gesturing to the man in the bowtie.

"I'm a Time Lord...I'm not a human being; I walk in eternity..." the man in the bowtie trailed off. "I'm the Doctor."

"Doctor Who," Charles asked.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well, I know it's short, but I was watching Doctor Who one day, and thought, I HAVE TO BRING THE DOCTOR IN! So...yeah. Also...does anyone know who Hone Onna is talking about? Who is she thinking of recruiting? Mutant contest still going! I want votes! Poll is up on my profile! R&R! ~kanna-chan**

**Chapter Title: Superman  
>Artist: Bon Jovi<strong>


	7. Everlong

**A/N: Hey, so my iPod was stolen this week, so reviews for anyone else's stories will be exceptionally slow, because I won't be able to review them on the go. Just letting you know.**

**kanna-chan owns nothing except for her OV, Hone Onna (well...I own this particular version of her at any rate. If you want more info, let me know)!**

* * *

><p>"<strong>You had to do <em>what<em>**," Hayate exclaimed, sitting with Kotoha in her room in the mansion. The Gokaigers, Hayate, and the Doctor had all been provided with rooms at the mansion. The Doctor put a forcefield around the TARDIS so that no one could get inside, and they all headed into the mansion. The Gokaigers basically hung around themselves, and Hayate followed Kotoha. The Doctor just walked around the mansion, wondering if there were bunk beds, because apparently, bunk beds were cool. Kotoha had already filled Hayate in on everything, and he wasn't really that surprised. He was very accepting of the fact.

"**I had to run five laps. Around this giant house. Erik is insane**," Kotoha sighed, as she brushed her hair out for the umpteenth time. A knock on her door alerted her, and she said in English, "I'm not running anymore laps or going back into the forest."

"Good, because you don't need to," Raven replied, walking through the door in her blonde form. "Charles wants to see you. Top of the satellite outside. He wants you to try something."

"Back up a sec. Did you say 'top?' I hate heights! That satellite is in no way close to the ground!"

"Hey, don't shoot the messenger," Raven said, slowly backing away, "I'm just telling you what Charles told me. I'm going to go back and work on weights. See you later." Raven walked out.

Kotoha sighed, as she got up. "**Charles apparently wants me to go to the top of some satellite. I swear, if this involves running on the satellite,**" Kotoha sighed, as she started to walk out, Hayate following her.

"**Hopefully it ****won't**," Hayate replied, as he followed her outside. "**And what's the deal with him and English-speaking people****?**"

"**Oh, he just doesn't know a lot of foreign languages. Where the heck is that satellite****?**" Kotoha's question was suddenly answered when she heard a loud scream, and when she looked up, she saw Sean flying through the air and screaming. "**Impressive. That's Sean, Hayate. Otherwise known as 'Banshee.' His mutant power is supersonic screaming.**"

"_Kotoha, try to give him a rock to land on,_" Charles asked her telepathically.

"_A rock? Shouldn't that have been what we had done yesterday_," Kotoha asked in the same way.

"_I have a theory. Just trust me._"

Kotoha sighed, as she stared at the ground, focusing on the earth. She felt her connection, and punched the ground. She thought of a or the shape of a rock, and a rock-like piece of the earth came up from the ground. "**No way_,_**" Kotoha breathed. She looked for Sean and waited for him to get to a position where he could land. Unfortunately, her aim was a bit off, and the rock hit Sean in the stomach, sending him backwards a few feet. He tried to scream, but he couldn't. All the wind had been knocked out of him by that rock. "**Damn! Hayate, do something,**" Kotoha exclaimed, as she looked on in shock.

"**Arashi no Habataki (**fluttering of a storm**)!**" A gust of wind suddenly came forth, and caught Sean as he fell. It slowly brought him down, but as soon as Sean managed to catch his breath, he walked up to Kotoha.

"You idiot," Sean shouted. "Were you trying to kill me or something?"

"I'm sorry, I was just trying to help, and-" Kotoha stammered. Hayate could only watch, as he had no clue what Sean was saying to Kotoha.

"Help? HELP? That stupid rock hit me in the stomach and knocked the wind out of me!"

"It was an accident, I swear, I'd never do something like that on purpose!"

"**Hey, leave her alone**," Hayate shouted, as he shoved Sean, before taking Kotoha's hand and walking away with her.

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry. Let me make sure I have this clear," the Tessalecta said to Angel, as they sat in the soundproof office of the justice department. "You want us to recruit the Doctor by changing into River Song, also known as Melody Pond, who is the greatest war criminal in the universe?"<p>

"That's it," Angel replied, shrugging her shoulders.

"Do you understand how many laws we'd be violating if we did that? River Song is serving time for a murder that didn't actually happen, and if the justice department saw us or even heard about us doing this, we would-"

"Relax," Hone Onna replied, waving her hand across the table. As she did this, her hand hit a crystal vase that looked to be quite old. Her hand went clean through the vase, as it broke into several tiny pieces.

"What the hell," the Tessalecta asked.

"That was just a taster," Hone Onna sneered, "and if you don't comply, the next thing I smash won't be that vase."

* * *

><p>"So, Taylor," Genta asked, as he prepared some <em>nigirizushi<em> for Taylor, "you enjoying the Air Force here in Japan?"

"It's great! The one problem is that they put me in a department where there aren't a lot of English speakers, and the only Japanese words I've learned are swear words," Taylor replied, as she watched Genta work.

"If you want, I could help you with your Japanese," Takeru offered.

"Thanks, but I don't want to impose too much, and-"

"It's fine, really."

"Thanks, Takeru! When do you want to start?"

As Taylor and Takeru negotiated a possible schedule for Taylor to learn Japanese, Mako just glared at Taylor the entire time. What was Taylor's deal? Something was off; Mako was determined to figure it out. She wished Kotoha was there, but knew that Kotoha was probably happy in New York. Besides, Mako knew that Kotoha just couldn't bear to face Chiaki or Takeru after everything that had happened. Mako abruptly got up and started to walk back to the mansion. Chiaki made to go after her, but was held back by Ryuunosuke, who shook his head.

* * *

><p>"<strong>It was really an <strong>**accident**," Kotoha explained to Hayate. "**I'm still learning how to control it, and-**"

"**That's understandable,**" Hayate commented, as he listened to Kotoha. The poor girl was still in shock over what had happened, and couldn't bear to face any of the others. They sat in her room, and talked. "**I'm sure Charles has his methods, but he really shouldn't have asked you to do something like that.**"

A knock at the door, followed by the door opening to reveal Raven alerted them back to their surroundings. "Everything okay, Kotoha?"

Kotoha sighed, "Fine, Raven. Just stressing out is all. Sean's a jerk."

"You're telling me," Alex sighed as he walked in. He had a black and blue mark on his cheek. He sat down on Kotoha's bed on the other side of her, as he said, "I got this for siding with you and saying it wasn't your fault."

"Are you okay," Kotoha asked. "Do you want me to get you an ice pack or a flour compress or something?"

"Nah, I'm good. Thanks, though," Alex replied.

Hayate looked at everyone in confusion, before Kotoha translated for him. Hayate said something to Kotoha, before Kotoha introduced Hayate and translated, "Hayate says that Sean doesn't sound like the nicest person. **Hayate, this is Alex and Raven**."

"Oh, I just remembered," Alex exclaimed. "Charles told me to tell you that he wants to meet with you and Erik in the library in a couple hours. Around eight-ish, I think he said."

"What time is it now," Kotoha asked.

"About five," Raven answered. "Charles is working with Hank, and I don't know what Sean and Erik are doing."

Hayate said something else to Kotoha, before she translated, "Hayate says that they're probably arguing or something. Wouldn't surprise me much to be honest. Still..."

* * *

><p>Eight o'clock had finally arrived, and when Kotoha arrived in the library, she heard Erik say, "I'm not gonna stop Shaw. I'm gonna kill him. Do you have it in you to allow that?"<p>

The two of them looked up from the chess board in between them, and turned to see Kotoha. "You wanted to see me," Kotoha said.

Charles sighed. "Indeed. Have a seat, dear." Kotoha raised an eyebrow at Charles, before sitting down in a chair, as she watched the two men.

"You've known all along why I was here, Charles. But things have changed. What started as a covert mission, tomorrow mankind will know that mutants exist. Shaw, us, they won't differentiate. They'll fear us. And that fear will turn to hatred," Erik sighed, as he sat back in his chair.

"Not if we stop a war," Charles countered. "Not if we stop can prevent Shaw. Not if we risk our lives doing so."

"The question I believe Erik is posing," Kotoha muttered, "is whether humans would do the same for us. You saw how my teammates walked away when they found out what I was. What's to prevent them from coming up with anti-mutant societies?"

"We have it in us to be the better men," Charles said, before adding, "and women. Present company included. Sorry about that, Kotoha."

"We already are," Erik growled. "We're the next stage of human evolution. You said it yourself. Or are you really so naive as to think that they won't battle their own extinction? Or maybe...it's you being arrogant."

"Erik," Kotoha whispered. The ground underneath Erik began to shake, and Kotoha's eyes changed from brown to yellow, as she looked at him.

"Kotoha," Charles said, trying to restrain her. Kotoha finally gained control of herself, and her eyes went back to normal.

"You don't get it, do you, Charles," Erik asked. "After tomorrow, they're gonna turn us. But you're blind to it, because you believe they all think like your friend, Moira."

"And you believe they're all like Shaw," Charles countered. At that, Erik walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Charles and Kotoha looked at each other, before Kotoha stammered, "W-what happened today...it was an accident. I tried so hard, but something knocked my aim off...it's hard when the person is constantly moving around, and-"

"I appreciate you saying that, Kotoha," Charles replied. "I understand that it was an accident, but we have to work on that aspect of your power."

"He punched Alex across the face!"

"Kotoha, listen-"

"Do you not understand what I'm getting at here?"

"Kotoha! I've already talked to Sean. He wants to apologize to you. Getting back to the point; we need to work more on your earth power...and your telepathy. An untrained telepath is...dangerous. Not just to those that he or she is around, but to themselves as well."

"Great," Kotoha said sarcastically.

"From what I've managed to figure out, you can only read the minds of others who are standing on the ground. You couldn't read Sean's while he was flying, could you?" Kotoha shook her head. "So we've narrowed a part of it down. If we can focus more on your earth powers, we think that control of your telepathy will come with it."

Kotoha shrugged. "Doubtful."

"Why?"

Kotoha shook her head, and said, "That's not important. I have a question, though. Who's Moira?"

"Moira is a CIA agent who is helping us out with locating Shaw. She should be coming by tomorrow. We plan on going after Shaw soon. As soon as we think we're all ready or when Shaw is getting ready to make his move, we'll head over there." Kotoha suddenly jolted, and her eyes changed to blue, before going back to brown. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure...I feel like I just saw something, but through Erik's eyes...it was really weird."

* * *

><p>The next day had arrived, and Kotoha still didn't want to run. She didn't sleep well, because she couldn't get her mind off of the night before. She walked out, and quickly ran into a girl wearing a yellow jacket. "<strong>Sorry,<strong>" Kotoha quickly apologized. "**Didn't see you**."

"**No need to worry about it****,**" the girl replied. "**Luka Millfy. GokaiYellow. And you're ShinkenYellow, right?**"

"**Y-yeah. I'm Kotoha Hanaori.**" The two yellow warriors started to head downstairs for breakfast before they were stopped by a panic-stricken Raven in her natural blue form, wearing a white robe.

"It's that Doctor guy," Raven exclaimed, gasping for breath. "It's as if he jumped out the window of his room or something! He's gone!"

"**Kotoha,**" Hayate exclaimed running up to her, being followed by the Gokaigers, "**did you see the hole in the window of the room that Doctor guy was** **in?**"

"That's not all," Captain Marvelous added, catching up to Hayate. "I saw someone go through the window of his room. Just shot a gun and smashed the window. I guess the gun had a silencer or something, and she managed to make it look as though the window had been smashed open."

"She," Raven asked.

Captain Marvelous nodded. "It was a woman. A woman with long curly blonde hair, wearing a dress. The Doctor woke up, she kissed him, and then he went back to sleep. She left a tube of lipstick. Doc and that scientist person are running scans of it now. They think it's some kind of poison. Again, that's not all. Somehow, she changed her shape. She went from looking like that woman to someone else. A tall woman with long red hair. As soon as she knocked the Doctor person out and changed her shape, she left. "

"Well, that's reassuring," Raven snapped. "Another version of me? Now I really want to go kick some ass."

The one called Doc, followed by Hank ran up to Captain Marvelous and the others. "It's poison," Hank explained. "It's not fatal, though. It was just enough to knock him out. I'm pretty sure wherever he is, he'll wake up."

"The question is, though, where is

* * *

><p>"Where am I? What the hell am I wearing," the Doctor asked, finally waking up, realizing he was in some kind of containment cell in a submarine underwater. "Where is my TARDIS?"<p>

Hone Onna walked in and snickered. "Why, Doctor, you're in one of our containment cells," she replied in her childlike voice. "Oh, something shiny," she said, holding up the Sonic Screwdriver. "A toy, perhaps? For me? Oh, Doctor, you shouldn't have!" She laughed, as she fiddled with the screwdriver, examining its various functions and laughing at the noises it made. "Oh, and as for your precious TARDIS...no need to worry. It's here, with us. We need it, you see."

"What have you done with River?"

"Fool. That wasn't River. That was...well...someone who _claimed_ to be a friend of yours. I guess he only cared about power in the end. The Tessalecta. River's still in Stormcage. Serving time for _your_ supposed murder. No matter. If you didn't die at Lake Silencio in Utah, we have another time and place of death set for you: October 23, in Cuba. This year, as a matter of fact." As she spoke, two strange and all too familiar beings came up behind her: the Silence.

"No way," the Doctor gasped.

Hone Onna's malicious grin got bigger. "Way," she said, before turning to the Silence. "Take him to Frost and Shaw, and tell Dayu-sama that we can proceed with the rest of our plan."

"Plan," the Doctor exclaimed. "What plan?"

If possible, Hone Onna's appearance almost became more inhuman, and she leaned in close to the Doctor, and whispered, "Why, to bring back the dead, of course."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: OMG! The Doctor has been kidnapped! The Silence have returned! Could this get any worse? Sean apparently has gone psycho, and Kotoha is still struggling to get control of her powers. What will Charles do? Will the Doctor die in Cuba? Will Shaw start World War III? -sigh- so many questions! R&R and VOTE! PLEASE!**

**Chapter Title: Everlong  
>Artist: Foo Fighters <strong>


	8. Follow You Into the Dark

**A/N: OK, due to the fact that my birthday is in a little over a week, I figured I'd treat myself to updating this as an early birthday present! Yay! Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me~**

**kanna-chan owns nothing except for her OV, Hone Onna (well...I own this particular version of her at any rate. If you want more info, let me know)!**

* * *

><p>Kotoha was sitting outside the Xavier Mansion, alone, as she played her flute. She thought long and hard about the conversation between Charles and Erik. Did Erik really plan on going as far as killing Shaw? Thoughts of her powers continued to roll through her head as she played. What was happening to her?<p>

"**That song...it sounds sad,**" a voice said. Kotoha lowered her instrument, and turned around to see the blue and pink pirates walking towards her. They were holding hands, as they walked up to Kotoha and sat next to her.

"**Joe-san...Ahim-san...**" Kotoha stammered.

"**Joe works fine,**" Joe said, and Ahim nodded, implying the same thing for her name. "**Something wrong?**"

"**I-it's nothing.**"

"**Your face says different,**" Ahim commented.

"**I suppose you're right.**" Kotoha sighed, and looked up at the sky. It was starting to get a little windy, but the breeze felt nice.

"**Well, we're here to talk. And we have a message,**" Joe sighed.

"**From?**"

"**Charles.**"

Kotoha sighed, as she threw her hands up in exasperation. "**Is there any reason why he can't come and look for me himself?**"

"**He sent us because he's currently working with Alex, and he has an idea that he wants to try.**"

"**Will I have to run?**"

"**Probably not.**"

"**Where are Hayate and the others?**"

"**Hayate and the others are currently working with Moira-san as they try to locate the Doctor's whereabouts,**" Ahim answered.

"**I ****see**," Kotoha sighed. "**Guess I'd better get going, then,**" she said reluctantly. "**Where are Charles and Alex?**"

"**I can't remember what he called it, but it looked like some kind of bunker.** **It was pretty big. It looked like a tunnel.**"

"**All right.**" Kotoha got up, and walked over to wherever it was that Joe and Ahim were talking about.

"**_Kotoha, I can sense that our enemies have a new ally. Two, as a matter of_**_** fact**," _Tetomu said telepathically as Kotoha walked.

"**_Two? What are they? Humans? Gedoushuu?_**_** Orgs**,_" Kotoha asked back.

"_**None of those things. Mutants.**_"

"_**Mutants?**_"

"**_Yes_,**_** mutants. A girl and a boy. That's all I know, I'm**_** afraid.**"

"_**A girl and a boy? Any idea on appearances? How do you know this,** **anyway**_**?**"

"**_I had a vision of it. I can't tell names or appearances or anything,_**_** though**._"

"Kotoha, perfect timing," Charles exclaimed as he dragged her over to where Alex was. Kotoha quickly realized where she was and snapped herself out of her thoughts. "There's something I want to try with-"

"What is she doing here," Alex shouted at Charles.

"Alex-" Charles started.

"I could kill her!"

"Alex, calm your mind!"

"But-"

"Alex!"

Alex took a deep breath. "Fine. What is it you want me to do?"

"We're going to work more on your power with Kotoha's. Kotoha, go stand over there," Charles explained, pointing to a far end of the bunker. "Alex, you stay here. Now, Kotoha, as soon as Alex's blast fires, I want you to raise a wall from the ground, and try to hold it up. Alex, you're going to fire the blast, and we're going to see how powerful Kotoha's shields can be."

"I have a question," Kotoha and Alex said at the same time, before turning away and blushing.

"Yes," Charles replied.

Kotoha looked at Alex, but Alex already voiced Kotoha's thoughts, as if he was a telepath himself. "ARE YOU INSANE?"

"Now, moving on," Charles said, ignoring Alex's question, and showing Kotoha where she should stand. "Kotoha, stand over here."

Kotoha walked over, and shouted, "I hope you know what you're doing, Charles."

"Right. I'm going to go in there," Charles explained, pointing to a door that was just outside the bunker. "If things get out of hand, I'll know. I'll be watching the entire time. Good luck, both of you." And with that, Charles opened the door, locked it behind him, and went inside.

Kotoha sighed, before she held her hands out in front of her. "Ready when you are," she shouted.

"Are you sure about this," Alex asked.

"Not really. Then again, I'm not really sure about a lot of things here in America. Guess this is one of them. Let's just get this over with, shall we?"

Alex shrugged, but before he prepared to fire the blast, he shouted, "I'm worried I'll hurt you!"

"Don't worry about me; I'll be fine. Let's just get this over with."

"Roger."

"My name's not Roger, it's Kotoha," Kotoha shouted, wrinkling her forehead in confusion.

"No; roger is another way of saying 'yes' here in America. It's used mostly by pilots."

"Oh."

"Ready?"

"Ready."

Alex gathered energy, before releasing it. Kotoha could see it coming towards her fast, and she didn't even have time to think, before she moved her hands upward, palms up. A big wall quickly came up from the ground, but Kotoha could see it wasn't holding strong enough. She took a defensive stance, and started pushing against the wall. Soon, the energy blast stopped, and the wall collapsed back into the ground. "We did it," Kotoha sighed in relief. She ran over to Alex, who quickly gave her a high five. "Nice one, Terra," he exclaimed.

"Terra? Is it me, or do you keep forgetting my name," Kotoha asked. "I've already been here for over a week-"

"Relax," Alex laughed. "Before coming here, we all came up with code names. Mine's Havok, Raven's is Mystique, and Sean's, as you already know, is Banshee. We chose them based on our powers."

"So you chose Terra for me because..."

"Terra means 'earth' or 'land' in Latin, Kotoha. Perfect for your powers," Charles explained, as he stepped out. "Well done, both of you!"

"Thanks," Kotoha said, looking down at the ground. "I have something I have to tell you. Rather, everyone needs to know."

"Should we include-"

"No! He'll take it too far. So, everyone minus him."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. This can't wait. It's really important." With that, Charles used his mind to call the others, except for Erik, into the living room, where they all met a few minutes later.

"Kotoha says that she has something important to tell us," Charles stated. "Oh, but before that, Moira," he said, pointing to the woman in the long brown trench coat, "this is Kotoha. Kotoha, Moira. Okay, Kotoha, you have the floor."

"What?"

"It means you can talk now," Sean begrudgingly explained.

"Oh. Right," Kotoha cleared her throat. "Tetomu had a vision while I was on my way to training. Two more mutants have joined you-know-who."

"Enough with the _Harry Potter_ references," Raven complained.

"Well, a certain someone could be listening. I don't want him to know," Kotoha explained. "She couldn't tell exactly who they were, but she could hear voices. The new mutants are a boy and a girl."

"A boy and a girl," Sean asked. Kotoha nodded. "How could she tell?"

"The voices, idiot," Marvelous said, slapping Sean on the back of the head.

"So he's building his army," Charles mused quietly.

"Meaning he's getting ready to strike soon," Moira commented. "Oh! The President's address will be on soon. Turn on the TV."

Charles grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, to see President Kennedy making an address. He said, "It shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile that crosses the embargo line that surrounds Cuba as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States. The cost of freedom is always high. No one can foresee precisely what course we will take. One path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender."

"That's where we're going to find Shaw," Erik said. Everyone jumped, even Charles and Kotoha.

"E-Erik," Kotoha gasped.

"Why didn't you tell me you were meeting?"

"It didn't concern you."

"If it has to do with Shaw, it concerns me. Two superpowers facing off, and he wants to start world war three. He won't leave anything to chance. So much for diplomacy." Erik turned to face everyone, before saying, "I suggest you get a good night's sleep. We leave bright and early tomorrow morning for Cuba. And before you say anything," he added, turning to face Hayate and the Gokaigers, "you can't come with us."

"No need," Marvelous said. "I just figured out why that Doctor idiot dropped us here." Charles raised an eyebrow. "Where we're from," Marvelous gestured to himself and the rest of the Gokaigers, "you," he pointed to Kotoha and Hayate, "gave up your Super Sentai powers and became normal humans. Or, relatively normal, I should say, given the circumstances. Anyway, we go after the ultimate powers of the various Super Sentai teams and use them to fight against the Zangyack Empire, who have destroyed countless planets across the galaxy. We're here...because we want the ultimate power of the mutants."

Charles, Kotoha, Hank, Alex, Raven, Erik, and Sean all exchanged a look, as everyone (minus Sean) screamed, "WHAT?"

* * *

><p>"Are you sure we're in the right time period," Hone Onna asked the Doctor, who was currently tied up to the TARDIS's console.<p>

"No, I gave you the wrong directions purposely, knowing that if I didn't give you the right directions, you'd kill me, and I wouldn't be able to regenerate," the Doctor sighed. "Of COURSE I gave you the right directions. Now let me go!"

"Shut him up for me, please," Hone Onna asked Angel, who nodded. She punched the Doctor across the face, and he quickly went limp. Angel and Hone Onna went outside the TARDIS. They were in what looked like a cemetery. Hone Onna quickly found what she was looking for. "Perfect. And there's the gravestone that we need. We're a couple hundred years into the future, so her body should have easily decomposed by now."

"So now what," Angel asked.

"Haven't you ever dug up a grave before?"

"No."

Hone Onna smiled a cruel smile, one that made her look almost more insane and inhuman than she already was. "We dig."

* * *

><p>"You're writing it wrong," Takeru said, as he was teaching Taylor how to write various Japanese characters.<p>

"It looks right," Taylor protested.

"It looks right, but the stroke order is wrong," Takeru sighed. "This is what you're supposed to do." He put his hand over Taylor's hand as they stood in front of the easel, and he guided her hand across another sheet of white paper, using the proper stroke order.

"So _that's_ how it works," Taylor realized. "But why does the stroke order matter? Shouldn't it be okay as long as the characters look the way you want them to?"

"If you write them out of order, the characters will look strange and illegible."

"Oh."

"Let's try-"

"**Tono**," Ryuunosuke shouted from inside.

Takeru sighed. "**I'm kind of busy right now, Ryuunosuke. Can it wait?**"

"**Not really.**"

"**What is it?**"

"**It's...well...you might want to have a look yourself.**"

Ryuunosuke tossed the newspaper at Takeru, who quickly caught it. He stared at the second page in shock. "**Do you think-**"

"**I'm not sure. Mako, Chiaki, and Genta are looking up more information right now.**"

"**But the water-**"

"For the love of G-d, doesn't anyone speak English anymore," Taylor exclaimed.

"Sorry," Takeru apologized. "It's urgent. I have to talk with the others. Keep practicing on the characters that we've worked on." Taylor resumed her practicing, and Takeru went back inside. "**Are you sure it's him**," he asked Ryuunosuke.

"**Positive. The water's almost high enough,**" was his answer.

"**Well, we're screwed,**" Takeru sighed.

"**What do you mean,**" Mako asked, walking over to Takeru and taking his hand in hers. He didn't respond to that action.

"**How are we supposed to form Shinken-oh without Kotoha?**"

"**Damn**," Genta said. "**You're right.**"

* * *

><p>"Let me make sure I have this clear," Charles said, looking Marvelous in the eye. "You want our ultimate power to fight off the Zangyack Empire?"<p>

"Yes," Marvelous answered, nodding his head.

"We're not Super Sentai, though. I honestly don't know what ultimate power you're talking about."

"Wait," Kotoha interjected, jumping up. "I think I have an idea. Professor, if I may..." she wiggled her fingers near her temple. The Professor nodded. This was not only the chance to get great information, but it was also the perfect chance to test out Kotoha's abilities.

Kotoha looked Charles in the eyes, as her gaze became hard and intense. Her eyes changed from brown to yellow, as images of a man in black with a red poncho having light sucked out of him by someone with a weird trumpet were projected into Charles's head. "That light," Kotoha explained, as she pulled herself out, "is an ultimate power. What I just showed you was one of Gai's memories; from when they met Hyuuga. Hyuuga is also known as the Black Bull, or Kuro Kishi, of Seijuu Sentai Gingaman. The team that Hayate is a part of."

"But why do you want our 'ultimate power'? I mean, you're already gathering the powers of the previous..." Charles trailed off, trying to count off.

"Thirty-four, sir," Ahim answered. "We're after the Greatest Treasure in the Universe, which can only be acquired after obtaining the powers of the thirty-four previous Super Sentai." She held Joe's hand, as they sat next to each other on the couch.

"With the ultimate power of the mutants in our arsenal, not only will we be able to get the treasure," Luka realized, "but we'll also be able to use it when we fight against the Zangyack."

"Don't forget about Basco. We have Basco to worry about," Don said.

"Actually, no we don't," Luka said, smacking Don on the back of the head. "We're in another time period. Unless the bad guys have recruited that Doctor freak and his...well...whatever it is, he can't get to us."

"Well, that's good news," Joe sighed, as he and Ahim looked at each other.

"Well, now that we've established that," Erik spoke up, "you," he pointed to the Gokaigers, "and you," he pointed to Hayate, "can't come with us."

"Why not," Gai asked, pleading.

"It's too dangerous."

"We're Super Sentai. We fight danger practically every day."

"Have you tried to stop nuclear war?" The Gokaigers exchanged a look, as Kotoha was rapidly translating for Hayate, who exchanged the same look with the Gokaigers. They all sighed. "I thought so. The only reason Kotoha can come with us is because she's a mutant; like us."

"Erik has a point," Charles sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Right, then. You," he looked at the Gokaigers, "can stay here, until we figure out how to send you back to your time and do more research on the ultimate power of the mutants. You," he looked at Hayate, "can either stay or go. It's your choice."

Kotoha quickly translated for Hayate, before Hayate said something to her. Kotoha translated, "Hayate is going to stay here. The other Gingaman are coming, too, apparently. Is that okay?"

"It's fine," Charles sighed. "Right. Everyone, go to bed. Those of us going to Cuba: we have a very early morning ahead. Be ready."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: OMG...so they're finally getting ready to head to Cuba. What awaits Kotoha and the others in Cuba? Taylor and Takeru's chemistry is starting to heat up. What does Hone Onna have planned? ****I've given you clues as to who the winners of the OC mutant contest are...yes, WINNERS, because NO ONE VOTED (again). Luckily, those who didn't make it WILL GET...a sneak peek at the next chapter! And bragging rights go to everyone, of course!** **R&R! Til the next chappy! ~kanna**

**Title: Follow You Into the Dark  
>Artist: Death Cab for Cutie <strong>


	9. Born This Way

**A/N: OK, due to the fact that my birthday is in a little under a week, I figured I'd treat myself to updating this as an early birthday present! Yay! Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me~**

**THIS STORY WILL BE MY MAIN FOCUS! ANY AND ALL UPDATES (unless the ideas decide to temporarily stop flowing) WILL BE FOR THIS STORY! WE ARE FINALLY GETTING TO THE GOOD STUFF! AND...A SERIES OF ONE-SHOTS FOLLOWING THE EPIC CONCLUSION (the one-shots will be in the story), BEFORE THE EPIC FIGHT WITH DOUKOKU!**

**kanna-chan owns nothing except for her OV, Hone Onna (well...I own this particular version of her at any rate. If you want more info, let me know)!**

* * *

><p>"Couldn't sleep," Alex asked, as he found Kotoha wandering about the mansion.<p>

"No. I'm so nervous for tomorrow," Kotoha replied, as she poured herself a glass of milk. She took a sip, before asking, "Aren't you?"

"Do you really need to ask that? I'm terrified out of my wits."

"Me, too," Raven said, stepping in. At first, the two looked at her and didn't really notice anything. At least, they didn't until they got a full look at her.

She was in her natural blue form. And she was _naked_. Alex instantly turned his head away, while Kotoha whispered, "Put some clothes on!"

"I was actually on my way to bed, where I was _going_ to put on pajamas, when I heard voices. Damn, Charles just really pissed me off."

"How," Kotoha asked.

"We had this talk about how I need to be in my 'natural form' less, and have the appearance of a 'normal' human being. 'Mutant and proud,' he says. If only. We shouldn't have to hide!"

Kotoha and Alex exchanged a look, before looking back at Raven and sighing. A silence hung in the air as Kotoha drank her milk. "We'd better get to bed," Alex said, yawning. "We have a big day tomorrow." Raven and Kotoha nodded as they took off towards their rooms.

"Wait, Kotoha," Raven said. "Can I go into your room with you? I want to talk."

"Um...sure," Kotoha replied, still trying to register the fact that Raven was completely _naked_. They walked into Kotoha's room, as Raven took out a robe from Kotoha's closet and put it on. Kotoha sat under the covers in her bed, leaning against her pillow. "What's up?"

"I want you to read my mind."

Kotoha looked taken aback. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. I can't talk about what happened with me and my brother. I just want to know-from a girl's perspective-am I pretty? Should I have to hide?"

"Raven, what kind of question is that? You're beautiful; you could be blue, purple...heck, you could have three heads and eight legs, and you'd still be beautiful. There's this band that I like-I tried to get Chiaki to listen to it, but he wouldn't-called 2NE1. They have this song, and the title in English is 'I Am The Best.' One of the English translations for one of the lyrics of the song is 'Even if you were me, you'd be envious of this body. I refuse to be compared.'"

"Really?"

"Would I lie to you?"

"Maybe."

"Let me rephrase that. Would I manage to _successfully_ lie to you?"

"No."

"Good. You're beautiful. And you'll look even better once we both get our sleep." Kotoha yawned, as she shifted so she could lie down. "'Night. See you tomorrow. Big day ahead."

"Thanks, Kotoha. Good night."

* * *

><p>"You have succeeded, I trust," Shaw asked Hone Onna, once she and Angel came back onto Shaw's submarine. He noticed a small brown parcel in Hone Onna's hands. "Are those-"<p>

"Yes," Hone Onna answered, nodding her head. "We can get rid of the Doctor. He is of no use to us anymore. I was hoping that we would be able to kill him at Lake Silencio, but I have better plans."

"You do," Shaw asked. "And what are those plans, pray tell?"

Hone Onna smiled. She sent in for two mutants: a boy and a girl. The boy was tall, and looked to be somewhere in his late teens. He had light tan skin, brown eyes, and short brown hair. His eyes were yellow like a hawk's. He wore saggy jeans, a white shirt, and a black leather jacket with black combat boots.

The girl, on the other hand, looked much younger than the boy. She looked as if she was around eight or nine years old, had long brown hair with a fringe that was wavy, and big brown eyes. She wore a white short sleeved dress with white pumps.

"Go on," Hone Onna said to the two, "introduce yourselves."

"The name's Shane. Shane Rogers. I'm a shape-shifter. I can change into any animal I want whenever I want to," the boy smirked.

"I'm Lily. Well...it's kinda hard to explain. I have another half; her name is Ora. She looks like me, but she's a bit older. When she takes over, she can possess the body of others. She can manipulate the will of others without them realizing, too, but to do so, she has to have eye contact with them for a couple of seconds. Ora can also enter the dreams of others, and to do this, she just needs to either know what they look like or have a picture of them," the girl said in a rush. She held reached out for Shane's hand, only to have him jerk it away.

"Nice to meet you," Azazel replied, teleporting into the room. He turned to face Shaw, before saying, "The Russians are getting ready."

"Excellent."

* * *

><p>"<strong>How long do you think we have til the water rises, and Doukouku returns,<strong>" Chiaki asked.

"**Hard to say,**" Takeru answered. "**A few days, maybe? Possibly a few weeks?**"

"**Who knows,**" Ryuunosuke said. "**We're basically screwed without Kotoha.**"

"**You're right,**" Genta sighed, as he lay on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. "**Speaking of, I wonder how she's doing. What do you think Mako?**" No answer. "**Mako?**" Still no answer. Mako just sat by the window and stared out at it, watching Taylor continue to practice her kanji. "**MAKO!**"

"**Wh-what happened,**" Mako asked, jolting out of her thoughts.

"**You spaced out for a second there, nee-san,**" Chiaki answered. "**Are you okay? That's not like you.**"

"**I'm fine. I'm just...I'm just going to go for a walk, that's all. I think I need some fresh air,**" Mako replied. And with that, she walked out the door.

"**Tono,**" Ryuunosuke asked, "**don't you think that Mako is acting a bit strange?**"

"**In what way**," Takeru asked his retainer.

"**Well, for starters, she's spending more and more time in the kitchen.**"

"**Since when is that new?**"

"**She's constantly spacing out and staring out the window.**"

"**I'll admit, that is a bit-**"

"_**And**_** she keeps looking at you with this weird expression. It all started once Taylor got here.**"

"**Coincidental.**" However, as soon as Takeru said that one word, he immediately started blushing. "**I don't know what their deals are.**"

"**Liar,**" Chiaki said. "**You like Mako.**"

"**I d****o not!**"

"**Yes, you do. Don't keep denying it; we can see you blushing.**"

"**Shut up!**"

"**Fine. I'll shut up as soon as you admit that you like Mako.**"

Takeru looked back out the window to see that Mako had picked up one of the wooden training swords and started hitting a practice dummy with it. She looked so beautiful, and her movements were so graceful. Sure, she was a horrible cook, and _really_ needed cooking lessons, but...there was something about her that Takeru couldn't help but admire. "**All right, fine,**" Takeru shouted. "**I like Mako!**"

"**Well, don't sit here and tell us that,**" Genta said, smiling at his best friend. "**Tell her!**"

Unbeknownst to them, Taylor was listening behind the door the entire time. She didn't know a lot of Japanese, but the one bit that she did know was that Takeru just admitted he _liked_ Mako. Taylor's fists curled up in anger. She had to beat Mako to the punch.

* * *

><p>Well, it was finally the next day, and Hank was nowhere to be found. "Where is he," Kotoha asked, looking around.<p>

"No clue," Sean replied. "Maybe he backed out?"

Alex slapped Sean across the back of his head. "No way he'd back out," Alex commented, "even if he is a bozo."

"Alex," Kotoha chastised.

"Can you please keep it down," Raven asked, as she walked in, sporting her natural blue form with tired pride. "It's too early, and I haven't had my coffee."

"Forget your coffee, Raven," Charles said, walking up to the group with Erik in tow. "We found a clue." Charles held up a note that said, 'In the airbase hanger. Bring the crate marked X. Hank.'

"What the heck is in this," Kotoha asked, as she walked over to the crate and tried to open it. It was heavier than it looked. "Alex, think you can give me a hand?" Alex nodded, and with Alex and the help of Erik's powers, they finally got the crate open.

At first, everyone stared at the outfits, before Alex asked, "Do we _really_ have to wear these?"

"As none of us have been genetically mutated to endure extreme G-force or be riddled by bullets, I suggest we suit up," Charles explained.

"Hank has been busy," Erik mused. "Right. Everyone, suit up."

The boys took off in one direction to change, and the girls took off in the other. Kotoha and Raven had a pretty difficult time with their suits, and if they _ever_ got married, they were NOT going to ask Hank to make their wedding gowns. The suits were so tight around the chest, that the suits showed a little more cleavage than what either of the girls were comfortable with. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking," Raven asked.

"If you're thinking that you're not hiring Hank to design your wedding gown if you get married, then yes, I'm thinking what you're thinking," Kotoha replied, smiling. The two girls quickly met the other boys back by the crate. Everyone was suited up. "Off to the hanger, right?" Everyone nodded, and it wasn't long til they were in the hanger, when Kotoha asked, "Where's Hank? He said to come here." She looked around, and saw a giant black aircraft.

"I'm right here," Hank called from across the hanger. Only...it wasn't him. He went from normal, human-looking Hank, to a blue, lion-like looking Hank. Blue fur was everywhere on his body. "The cure...it didn't attack the cells. It enhanced them. It didn't work."

"Cure," Kotoha asked.

"Long story," Raven explained. She turned to look at Hank, before saying, "Yes it did, Hank. Don't you see? This is who you were meant to be. This is you. No more hiding."

"Never looked better, man," Erik commented. Apparently, Hank saw the comment as offensive, and quickly picked Erik up by the neck, trying to strangle him.

"Hank, put him down," Kotoha pleaded.

"Don't mock me," Hank growled, as his grip tightened, and Erik struggled for air.

"Put him down right now, Hank! Please," Kotoha begged.

Hank let go of Erik's throat, as Erik fell to the ground, gasping for breath. "I...wasn't...mocking...you," he gasped.

"Even I have to admit, you look pretty badass," Alex commented. "I think I got a new name for you: Beast."

"I like it," Kotoha replied, smiling at Alex. Hank didn't respond. He just growled.

"Are you sure you can fly this thing," Sean asked, looking warily at the aircraft.

"Of course I can," Hank said with pride. "I designed it."

* * *

><p>"I HATE PLANES," Kotoha screamed, as the plane made yet another sharp turn. "Hank, if we survive this, I'm going to kill you!" She thrashed around the best she could in her seat, but Alex was doing her best to hold her down. He kept mumbling apologies as the plane made turn after turn. The only people who were at least somewhat silent were Hank, Sean, Moira, Charles, and Erik. Kotoha sat by the window on the plane, and she HATED it.<p>

"Kotoha, relax," Hank finally shouted over the engines. "Unless someone-or something-fires on this, we're not going to have to do turns or anything. Full speed ahead."

"Thank G-d for that," Kotoha sighed, as she tried to relax. "How much longer til we're there?"

"Not sure," Sean replied, sitting on the other side of Raven.

"Whoa...it looks really bad out there," Kotoha observed. "There are tons of ships with cannons."

"Can you pick up on any thoughts," Charles shouted over the engines.

"I can try," Kotoha answered, as she shut her eyes. She tried to branch out her mind to the people on the ship. Her hands moved to the seat of her chair, as she gripped onto it, straining her telepathic abilities. She finally saw something through the eyes of one of the crew members on a ship that was looking across at another ship through a telescope. They were all dead.

"Kotoha, don't-" Charles started, but was cut off.

"The crew of the Aral Sea are all dead," Kotoha said. "Shaw's been there." She opened her eyes, and took a deep breath. "I'm having a hard time with long-distance telepathy. I'm pretty sure my range isn't that short, but..."

"If we survive this, we'll work on it," Charles replied.

"Now's not the time to focus on the future," Erik growled. "Shaw's still here."

Charles looked out the window that he was sitting near, before saying, "He's set the ship on course for the embargo line."

"Embargo line," Kotoha asked, unsure of the term.

"Let's just say that if that line's crossed, our boys are gonna blow it up," Moira explained, "and the war begins."

"But...what if they're not 'our boys,'" Kotoha asked.

"Kotoha, if you're thinking what I think you're thinking-" Charles started off, but was once again interrupted.

"Please, Professor," Kotoha asked. Charles sighed, as he nodded. Kotoha closed her eyes, once again branching out her mind to people on one of the ships. It was a few seconds later, when a loud _BOOM! _rang out, and a missile was fired at the aircraft. Kotoha was straining once again, Charles could tell. He applauded her effort, though. Hank quickly and cleverly maneuvered the plane out of the missile's way.

"A little warning next time," Hank asked.

"Sorry about that," Kotoha mumbled, as she struggled to open her eyes. She looked a little paler than usual.

"That was inspired, Kotoha," Moira complimented.

"Thanks," Kotoha replied.

"I still can't locate Shaw," Charles exclaimed, frustration evident in his voice.

"He's down there, and we need to find him now," Erik snapped.

"Hank," Charles asked the pilot.

"Anything usual on the radar or scanner," Hank asked Moira.

"Nothing," Moira answered, shaking her head.

"In that case, he's probably under water. And obviously, we don't have sonar."

A look of realization went across Sean's face. "Yes we do," he said with confidence, unstrapping himself. Charles and Erik followed suit.

"Hank! Level the bloody plane," Charles shouted, as he held on to just about anything and everything he could to keep himself standing straight. Charles stood near Sean just inches away from the door on the bottom of the plane.

Erik came was about to come up, but Sean shouted, "You back right off!" Erik backed off, his hands up in defense.

"Beast," Charles shouted, using Hank's new codename, "open the Bombay doors!" Beast did as he was told, and the doors opened, letting the howling wind rush through the plane and ring in everyone's ears. "Remember," Charles yelled over the sounds of the engines and the wind, "this," he pointed to his larynx, "is a muscle! You can control it! On my mark! Three! Two! One!"

Sean let out a yell that must have been like a battle-cry of sorts, as he went hurtling towards the ocean. He screamed, and used the soundwaves to keep himself in the air, before going underwater.

It was about a minute later, before Charles shouted, "Banshee's got a location on Shaw!" He turned to face Erik, and asked, "Are you ready for this?"

"Let's find out," was Erik's response, as he stepped onto one of the tires of the plane. It quickly lowered itself through the Bombay doors, as Erik moved his hand around, searching for the submarine. When he finally found it, he concentrated so hard on lifting it up, he had gone red in the face.

Kotoha stared long and hard at Erik before leaning through the Bombay doors, and looked hard at him once more, before saying telepathically, "_Rage is one half of reaching your goal. The other half is serenity. Find the point between the two._" Erik must have calmed down, because his shoulders lowered, and he took a deep breath, as the submarine slowly, but surely, rose from the sea.

Unfortunately for the mutants aboard the plane, Erik holding up the submarine wasn't their only problem. A boy stepped out of the hatch of the submarine. "**What the** **hell**," Kotoha asked, before the boy leaped into the air, and changed form. What was once a boy was now a large raven, and said raven quickly flew into the plane. The bird flew all around, attacking everyone with its talons.

"Hang on," Charles shouted, but no matter how hard everyone tried, the bird kept attacking. The bird's last target was Hank, and the mutants were so thankful to be above land. The one downside, though, was that the plane was basically trashed, and quickly fell to the ground.

All was silent.

* * *

><p>Once the plane hit the ground, the bird flew out, and changed back into the boy it had once been. "My job's been done," he said, as he walked up to a little girl in a short-sleeved white dress, who managed to make it out of the submarine, along with Angel, Azazel, and Riptide. "Your turn is coming soon, Ora."<p>

"That's very good to hear, Shane," Ora replied, smiling a wicked smile. She looked toward the plane. "It appears as though all is silent."

"I wouldn't get my hopes up. Something tells me they're still alive." Shane sniffed the air. "I can smell them. They reek of engine oil. I hate that smell."

"Why," Lily asked, as Ora asked Lily to take over for the time being.

"My dad was a mechanic," Shane explained. "He used to beat me with a belt that was covered in the stuff. I managed to make it out of that house after ten years, but..."

"Scars," Lily asked. Shane nodded. Lily shrugged her shoulders, before hugging Shane around the waist. "I don't really remember what my life was like before I met Ora. I do remember being taken to some weird place for people who had problems with their heads, but Ora helped me break out of it."

"Sounds rough," Shane commented, looking at the wreckage.

"It was," Lily replied, nodding.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: CONGRATS TO THE WINNERS OF THE OC MUTANT CONTEST: MORGANA359 (ORA/LILY) AND DRIVERED (SHANE ROGERS)! Their prizes are as follows: bragging rights! Their mutants being featured! And...well, that's it. It was a really hard decision (why do you think I put it off for so long)!**

**Runner-ups: don't worry! If I make a sequel to this (which is possible), you'll get to make OC-whatevers for that, too!**

**And...happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me~**

**R&R!**

**Chapter Title: Born This Way  
>Artist: Lady Gaga <strong>


	10. True Colors

**A/N: My birthday was a few days ago, and I wanted to put this chapter up then, but things got in the way, and...yeah.**

**THIS STORY WILL BE MY MAIN FOCUS! ANY AND ALL UPDATES (unless the ideas decide to temporarily stop flowing) WILL BE FOR THIS STORY! WE ARE FINALLY GETTING TO THE GOOD STUFF! AND...A SERIES OF ONE-SHOTS FOLLOWING THE EPIC CONCLUSION (the one-shots will be in the story), BEFORE THE EPIC FIGHT WITH DOUKOKU!**

**kanna-chan owns nothing except for her OV, Hone Onna (well...I own this particular version of her at any rate. If you want more info, let me know)!**

* * *

><p>"Everyone all right," Kotoha struggled to ask, as she tried to push off some of the rubble.<p>

"Barely," Alex mumbled, as he pushed some of the rubble he was surrounded by. "Stupid bird made the plane crash."

"That wasn't a bird," Charles explained, as he made his way out of the plane, reaching out a hand to help all the other mutants out.

"Um, are you blind or something? That was _definitely_ a bird," Raven said, as she rubbed her head. "Ugh...my head hurts."

"Well, it was a boy first," Charles argued.

"So the boy was a bird," Kotoha asked. "A mutant with shape-shifting powers? Just like Raven."

"Yeah," Raven nodded, "but the only difference between me and him is that he can change into animals, and I can change into people."

"As much as I love the info session," Moira shouted, "we don't have time for this. The Geiger counter is going out of control!"

"What's a Geiger counter," Kotoha asked.

"A thing that measures energy," Erik explained.

"So Shaw's basically trying to turn himself into a nuclear bomb?" This was met with a series of nods. "That's not good."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Erik sighed, as he turned to face Charles, and said, "I'm going in!"

"Moira, get on the radio tell them to get both fleets out immediately," Charles ordered. "Beast, Havok, Terra-"

"Can't we just stick with 'Kotoha,'" Kotoha asked.

"Beast, Havok, Terra," Charles said, ignoring the question, "back up Erik as he goes in. Erik, I can guide you through once you're in but I need you to shut down whatever it is that's blocking me. Then we just hope to G-d it's not too late for me to stop him." Just as he was speaking, a girl with wings like a dragonfly's wearing black leather gloves and a black leather skirt with black leather boots and a black shirt to match flew into the air, and spit something that looked like a fiery ball at them. "Look out!" Everyone jumped out of the way just in time. "Erik, get going. I'll guide you through."

"Leave her to me," Kotoha said, a fire in her eyes that people hadn't noticed before. "Alex, Beast, cover Erik."

"You sure," Alex asked.

"Positive. Something tells me she likes to play games," Kotoha replied, as her eyes changed from brown to yellow, and rocks rose from underground, and circled around her. "How about target practice?"

"If you're sure-" but before Alex could finish that sentence, a red mutant with a tail and a Hispanic mutant wearing what must have been a very expensive suit stepped out. The red mutant bared a large knife, while the Hispanic mutant moved his hands around, instantly creating a whirlwind in each hand. "Damn," Alex muttered. "Think I'll stick around with you for this one, Kotoha."

"Good idea," Kotoha replied, her eyes widening, but the rocks still circling her head. Alex blasted the Hispanic mutant, who barely had time to react, and was quickly knocked away by the force. "**One down, two to go**," Kotoha muttered. "Erik, go! We'll hold the other two off!"

Erik ran ahead, and Azazel quickly engaged in a two on one fist-fight, with Beast and Alex being the two, and Azazel being the one. He was definitely putting up a good fight, given that he had two hands, a knife, and a tail with a sharp, pointed edge. Kotoha dived and grabbed hold of the legs, but was too late, as Azazel's tail wrapped itself around Alex, and Beast held Azazel in a headlock. Azazel teleported away, but along with him came Alex, Beast, and Kotoha. Azazel let go of Alex, who was falling fast. "Beast," he shouted. "Kotoha!" Kotoha's rocks were no longer surrounding her, as she was high in the sky, nowhere near the ground.

Beast quickly reached out a hand, and Alex grabbed it just in time. "GUYS, WE'RE STILL FALLING," Kotoha screamed. "I HATE HEIGHTS!" She moved her legs up, and then managed to climb up enough to be holding on to Azazel's waist. She struggled to keep a good hold onto Azazel, as they fell further and further.

Beast suddenly tightened his hold on Azazel, and said into Azazel's ear, "If we go, you go!" Azazel looked down at the ground that was starting to get closer and closer, then back up at Beast, realizing that he had no choice but to teleport, or he would die. Azazel quickly teleported-with Kotoha, Alex, and Beast hanging on for dear life-onto the boat below them that was flanked with several military officials.

Alex quickly shot up and blasted Azazel in the back, before he could teleport away. Kotoha fought off the military officials with martial arts, with some help from Beast. Unfortunately, though, Azazel's tail grabbed Alex from behind, and took him down. Beast grabbed onto Azazel, but the two quickly teleported away, leaving Alex and Kotoha on the boat. "Gangway, gangway," the military officials shouted, coming towards Alex and Kotoha with their guns. Alex quickly looked up, and Kotoha punched another official, before looking behind her.

"We're screwed," Alex muttered.

"Hands up where we can see them," the officials shouted.

Kotoha and Alex did as they were told, but it wasn't long until they heard a roar. It was a loud roar, and up from below the ship came a very large Bengal tiger. "Holy shit," Alex gasped, as the tiger charged him. He tried to blast it, but the tiger quickly clawed off the panel that helped to control his energy rays. The panel came off, and Alex was left with cuts across his chest. "Fuck," he muttered, as he tried to stop the flow of blood. The tiger roared in satisfaction, before changing back into a boy. Kotoha gasped. It was the boy that changed into the bird that crashed their plane!

"Well, well, well," he said in satisfaction. "Two mutants right here, and one nearly half done for. What's the matter, little girl," he asked, walking up to Kotoha. "Your boyfriend not the knight in shining armor you thought he was?" Kotoha ignored him, and looked the boy straight in the eye. "He's not good enough for you. But I am. The name's Rogers. Shane Rogers." Kotoha still just stared at him. "A pretty girl like you has to have a pretty name. What is it?" No answer. "Say something, dammit," he yelled grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her. Kotoha's eyes widened, as she looked past Shane. Her hands quickly went up to her ears. Alex, seeing the same thing Kotoha was, followed suit. "What the hell," Shane asked. "Is that some kind of secret code or something?"

Too late. A deafening scream came up from below, as Sean soared into the air. Alex made a break for it, as he grabbed a hold of Sean's ankle, and Sean stayed airborne, with Alex holding on for dear life. Shane sighed, as he said, "Boyfriend left you for dead, huh?"

"You're an idiot," Kotoha muttered, as she punched Shane across the face. Blood came out of his nose.

He laughed. "A woman with attitude. I like that. Shame to have to kill you."

Kotoha looked up, and saw the Hispanic mutant in the sky. The mutant was slowly getting lower, and Kotoha realized that she had a chance to get away. She mentally sighed, as she said, "Don't be so sure of yourself." And with that, the Hispanic mutant lowered herself, as Kotoha ran and jumped into the air, grabbing onto the mutant's legs.

"What the hell," the mutant screamed.

"Thought I'd-grab a lift," Kotoha struggled to get out, as the mutant started to try to shake Kotoha off. Kotoha held on for dear life, knowing that her weight was forcing the mutant to get closer and closer to the ground.

"You bitch," the mutant shouted. As soon as they got a few yards closer to the ground, Kotoha looked to the left, only to see that Alex and Sean had taken a tumble, and were on the ground. One of Sean's wing thingies had a hole in it. Kotoha cursed silently.

"Kotoha," Hank yelled, running from one of the whirlwinds created by the mutant in the super expensive suit. "Let go! Now! I'll catch you!"

"Are you insane," Kotoha yelled, as she was still being shaken by the mutant. "That whirlwind could kill you!"

"Not when you get near your element!"

Kotoha quickly realized what Hank meant, and said, "See you later," to the Hispanic mutant, before letting go. Hank quickly caught her, and Kotoha quickly brought up a wall of earth to combat the whirlwind. It was strong, but the wind died down eventually.

"You bitch," the mutant in the really expensive suit muttered.

"I have a name, you know," Kotoha yelled, throwing rocks at him with her powers. "It's Kotoha. And yours?"

"Riptide. Now shut it." And with that, Riptide ran up to Kotoha, only to be stopped by Beast.

"Kotoha, go check on Alex and Sean," Beast shouted. "I'll handle him." Kotoha nodded, as she ran towards Alex and Sean, only to be stopped by the shape-shifting boy, and a little girl in a short-sleeved white dress. Her eyes were black, and she looked to be around eight or nine.

"Is this her, Shane," the little girl asked, looking up at the boy.

"Yep," the boy replied. "That's her all right. Care to take care of her, Ora?"

Ora looked Kotoha in the eye, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't force herself into Kotoha's mind. "Can't," Ora grumbled, kicking the dirt.

"And why the fuck not," Shane asked.

Ora punched him in the gut. "Because she's a telepath. An untrained one," Ora sneered, "but still a telepath. However..."

"Don't even think about it," Kotoha growled, as Ora's head turned to look at Beast, who quickly took down Azazel. "Beast! Turn away! Now! Don't let her make eye contact with you!"

Too late. Beast made eye contact with Ora, and his eyes quickly turned black. "Now...Beast is it," Ora asked, with a slight sneer in her voice.

"Yes, Mistress Ora," Beast answered.

Ora flicked a finger at Kotoha, and said the one word that Kotoha was afraid of. "Kill."

* * *

><p>Mako was on her way inside from her walk. She realized what she had to do, and she had to do it fast. Her walk back into the mansion turned into a jog, and then turned into a sprint, and she wasn't watching where she was going, before she ran smack into Taylor. "Hey, would it kill you to watch where you're going," Taylor asked angrily.<p>

"Well, excuse me," Mako replied, wondering what Taylor's issue was. Mako tried to move past, but Taylor wouldn't let her. "Is something wrong," Mako asked.

Taylor laughed mirthlessly. "You're just figuring that out now, Mako? Here's the deal. I like Takeru."

"Don't we all?"

Taylor laughed again. "Let me rephrase that. Maybe your English isn't good enough to understand that I _like_ Takeru."

Mako sighed, as she ran a hand through her hair. "When did you-"

"Realize? The moment you guys left America."

"So...it's been a few months, and _not once_ have you tried to contact him? You blondes are all the same."

Taylor slapped Mako hard. "NEVER joke about my hair." Mako looked at Taylor hard. There was a fire in Mako's eyes that wasn't there before. She took her Shodophone out of her pocket and switched it to Brush Mode. "What the hell-"

"I've been fighting with Takeru to stop the Gedoushuu for over a year. I'd go to hell and back for him. I nearly did, too. Do you even have any idea what we've been through together? The obstacles we've faced? The dangers we've been in? I'm not going to let someone like you tear Takeru and I apart."

Taylor threw her head back and laughed. "You intend to fight me?"

"No, I thought I'd take this out and bring out teacups so that we could have a tea party. OF COURSE I INTEND TO FIGHT YOU! I'd do anything for Takeru!" Mako drew the kanji for heaven in the air, and spun it around, transforming into ShinkenPink.

"You're asking for it," Taylor said, shrugging her shoulders. She pulled out her Growl Phone, pressed a button, and shouted, "Wild Access!" She transformed into Wild Force Yellow, the Soaring Eagle.

"Bring it," Mako said, as the two charged each other.

* * *

><p>"Hone Onna," Shaw called, "are you done yet?"<p>

"Not quite," Hone Onna responded, as she stood in the sub's kitchen. "Your pots and pans are far too small."

"Well, sorry that this is a submarine and things aren't exactly up to par."

"Relax. I have what I need. Right here, in this cup." Hone Onna walked out of the kitchen, holding a cup with blood red liquid in it. Little bits of white were visible throughout the solution.

"I don't know what that is, I don't want to know what that is, but here's what I want to know: what is that?"

"Why, Mr. Shaw, you really aren't as smart as I took you for. Didn't Dayu explain what I could do?"

"Yes, but-"

"Well, this is it."

"You can make weird drinks?"

"No, you idiot. This is what we're going to use to revive the dead. Do you know what was in that brown parcel? The older ShinkenYellow's bones."

"There's two?"

"The older one-Mitsuba-was supposed to be ShinkenYellow, but when she got sick, her younger sister, Kotoha had to take her place. Mitsuba died a few months ago at the hands of a Gedoushuu named Chiotome. However-" Hone Onna jolted, as she felt someone approaching. "Your friend is coming to visit. Unfortunately, I have to change plans about what I do with this. If I were you, I would go to the nuclear reactor and get things started. I'll turn the output up to 100% and make sure you're not disturbed."

"But what about-"

"Leave it to me. Just go!" And with that, Hone Onna pushed Shaw into the nuclear reactor chamber, shoved his metal helmet into his hands, and slammed the door. She sighed, before turning rummaging through the cabinets, as she muttered to herself, "The Shinkengers won't know what to do when one of their own fights alongside Doukoku...will they?" She gave a cruel, sadistic smile, as her features continued to turn more and more inhuman. She quickly found a thermos, and poured the contents of the cup into the thermos. She turned the nuclear output to 100% power. She looked for rope, grabbed it, and tied the thermos to her back, before disappearing into a crack.

* * *

><p>All Kotoha could do was run. Beast was too fast and too strong, and under Ora's control. She threw up wall after wall behind her, but he just smashed right through all of them. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her. Alex and Sean couldn't help her; they were busy trying to fight off Shane. Stupid shifter. He could shift into any and every animal in the book and then some. He was currently a gorilla, and was nearly beating Alex and Sean to a pulp. Kotoha looked over her shoulder as she ran, and yelled, "Beast! Stop this! It's me, Kotoha! Stop!"<p>

Ora laughed. "Silly girl. He can't hear you. As long as he's under my spell, I can bend his will any way that I shall choose."

Kotoha cursed to herself, as she kept running. Each wall took up more and more of her energy. Between running from Beast, who was under Ora's control, and trying to keep him away, Kotoha was running out of energy fast. That's when it hit her. The one thing that slowed anything on land down. Quicksand! She quickly focused the image and feel of quicksand in her mind, as she tried to focus her energy through her feet. The ground was slowly turning into quicksand. Beast ran and ran, until eventually, he was up to his torso in quicksand. As soon as it got to his torso, Kotoha got close enough to the quicksand, but far enough away so that Beast couldn't do any damage, and focused on the quicksand hardening around Beast, like cement. He couldn't get out, no matter how hard he struggled.

Kotoha then glared at Ora. Kotoha's eyes went from brown to yellow, as she stomped on the ground, and a boulder came up. She clenched her fist, before unclenching it, and the boulder became several hard rocks. "Now, release Beast," Kotoha growled.

"Or what? You'll kill me," Ora sneered. "You do realize that you can't do that."

"And why not?"

"Because if you kill me, you kill my host. Little eight-year-old Lily. We are one. If you kill her, both of us die."

Kotoha gasped, but kept her concentration. She then realized that she didn't have to kill Ora. Sure, she didn't want her alive to hurt others, but she couldn't kill a little girl. She realized what she could do, though. "Who said anything about killing you," Kotoha asked, as she flung some rocks at Ora's legs. When they hit, Ora was stunned for a moment, and lost her balance, falling to the ground. She was unconscious. Before going to Beast, Kotoha ripped off a piece of her uniform, and tied it around Ora's eyes, blindfolding her.

Kotoha ran over to Beast, to find that Beast's eyes went back to normal. He shook his head, and asked, "Why am I in hard quicksand?"

"Long story," Kotoha replied, smiling at her friend. She focused on the earth, and in a couple seconds, Beast was freed and back to normal. "Glad to have you back."

"Where was I?"

"That's another-"

"Hey," Alex shouted. "When you two are done flirting or whatever, we could-_oof!_" Alex just got hit to the ground by the gorilla, who quickly changed back to the boy, Shane. Sean was on the ground, with Alex, and Beast ran over to help the two of them up. Just before Shane had the chance to do anything, though, he heard a scream, coming from Ora. He ran over to her and tried to help her take off the earth blindfold. He couldn't do too much without hurting her, though, and just as he started to make progress, a loud _thud!_ rang out. A piece of metal from the submarine hit the ground, and what came out of the submarine was a sight that Kotoha had dreaded.

It was Erik, wearing a metal helmet, floating, holding up Shaw's body in mid-air. "No," Kotoha gasped. "He really did it. He really..."

"Everyone," Charles shouted, running over to the other mutants, Moira just behind him. "Are you all-" He finally saw what was going on. "He really did it."

"Today our fighting stops," Erik called out, addressing the mutants. "Take off your blinders, brothers and sisters. The real enemy is out there. I feel their guns moving in the water. Their metal, targeting us. Americans, Soviets, humans. United in their fear of the unknown." He dropped Shaw's body to the ground with a flick of the wrist, and said, "Go on, Charles. Tell me I'm wrong."

Charles put a hand to his temple, and one word rang throughout everyone's thoughts on the ships: "_Fire_." About fifty missiles or so suddenly launched themselves toward the island. Kotoha put her hands up in defense, and was about to raise a wall, before Erik put up a hand, stopping the missiles in their tracks. "Erik, please," Kotoha shouted at the man in the helmet. "You're the one who said we had it in us to be the better men and women. There are thousands of men; innocent, good men on those ships! They have families and homes to go back to!"

"They don't deserve it, Kotoha," Erik sighed, as he stared at the missiles.

"Please," Kotoha cried. "They're just following orders."

Erik turned to face Kotoha. "I've been at the mercy of men 'just following orders.'" Erik turned back to the missiles, and said, "Never again." He turned his hand around, made a fist, and then unclenched it. The missiles started to fly back towards the ships that they had originated from, but before they had the chance to do any real damage, Charles went in for the tackle, tackling Erik to the ground. They rolled over and over tackling each other, but when Erik pushed Charles to the ground, Charles couldn't get up. Erik gained control of the missiles just before they hit the water, and was about to throw them, before a sound was heard. It was a _crack!_, as Kotoha turned to face Moira, who was firing her gun at Erik. Erik had to drop the missiles in the water, and concentrate on deflecting the bullets.

It was about three bullets later, when Kotoha saw what was going to happen, before it did. Erik deflected bullet after bullet, but she could see that Charles was starting to get up. That definitely wasn't good. Kotoha was certain she would die but if she did, at least she protected the people she cared about. She ran over to Charles, and just before the bullet could hit him in the back, she kicked him down so that he was back on the ground, and she suddenly felt a sharp pain on the back right side of her body.

"No," Alex, Raven, Sean, and Beast shouted.

"KOTOHA," Alex cried.

Kotoha gasped in the amount of pain she was in, and fell to her knees, then fell so that her stomach was on the ground. She whimpered through the pain, and tried to sit up the best she could. Charles just stared in wonder. "You...saved me," Charles gaped.

"Charles, this is hardly the time to be gaping," Erik exclaimed. He ran over to Kotoha and picked her up, using his powers to take the bullet out of her. "I'm so sorry," he whispered, unable to say anything else. The other mutants, minus Ora and Shane, started to run to Kotoha, before Erik shouted, "Back off!" He turned to face Moira, and growled, "You. You did this."

Moira's dog tags suddenly wrapped tightly around her neck, as they started to slowly but surely strangle her. She struggled for air, before Kotoha weakly tapped Erik, and whispered, "E...rik. She...didn't...do...this. You...did. This...was exactly...you. All...this."

"Don't you want what I want, Kotoha," Erik asked. "Mutants are-"

"Mutants...and humans...are...equals," Kotoha gasped, in between every few syllables, "and...we...should...all...be...treated as...such. So...no...Erik. We...don't want...the same...thing."

Erik closed his eyes and sighed. He gestured towards Charles and Moira, who quickly took Kotoha's shaking form into their arms. Erik stood up, and turned to face everyone. "If this society won't accept us," he said, "we'll make our own. The humans have played their hand, and now it's our turn to play ours. Who's with me?"

Ora and Shane exchanged a look, before Shane held out a hand to Ora, which she took, as the two walked over to Erik. They were quickly followed by Azazel, Riptide, and the Hispanic mutant. Erik looked towards Raven, who looked towards him, before beginning to walk over towards Kotoha. "I can't believe you did something so stupid," Raven chastised her friend, but a sad smile was all over her face.

Kotoha weakly smiled back. "We all...do...stupid things...for people...we care about...don't we," she asked. "You...know...you can...go with him. I...can...see that...you want to."

"You never used your mind-reading powers on me. I thought you wouldn't."

"I...didn't. I can...tell."

However, just as Kotoha said this, a loud _pop!_ noise rang through the air, as Azazel, Riptide, Ora, Shane, the Hispanic mutant, and Erik all disappeared. Everyone ran over to Kotoha, who suddenly closed her eyes, allowing darkness to overtake her.

"You, blue and furry," a female voice shouted. "Front and center!" All of the mutants turned around to see three men and one woman in grey and black suits that said 'Police.'

"My name is Jules Callaghan; I'm with the strategic response unit. One of your radios somehow managed to signal us, and-" Jules faltered, seeing Kotoha's bloodied and battered body. "She's been shot, and she's losing blood, fast." She turned to face one of the men, and said, "She needs medical attention fast!"

Everything suddenly became a blur, and once everyone was aboard the aircraft of the strategic response unit, the mutants all fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter title: True Colors<br>Artist: (okay...this was actually off of the First Class soundtrack, but I thought that the song was too good to pass up!): Henry Jackman (the composer of the soundtrack) **


	11. My Heart Will Go On

**A/N: After this chapter (or towards the end of it) the series of one-shots shall commence!**

**THIS STORY WILL BE MY MAIN FOCUS! ANY AND ALL UPDATES (unless the ideas decide to temporarily stop flowing) WILL BE FOR THIS STORY! WE ARE FINALLY GETTING TO THE GOOD STUFF! AND...A SERIES OF ONE-SHOTS FOLLOWING THE EPIC CONCLUSION (the one-shots will be in the story), BEFORE THE EPIC FIGHT WITH DOUKOKU!**

**kanna-chan owns nothing except for her OV, Hone Onna (well...I own this particular version of her at any rate. If you want more info, let me know)!**

**PS: If anyone who is reading this notices the YuGiOh: Abridged reference, feel free to say so!**

**PPS: Some of the medical info is not 100% accurate. I am not a doctor/nurse, nor have I broken any bones (or been shot), so I did the best that I could with what I found online. If anyone else is a doctor/nurse or has had a similar experience please correct me on the info that I have in your reviews or a PM.**

**DriveRed and Morgana359: Your OC mutants are done for now...I won't say much more about them, except that they will be returning!**

**Enough of my babbling! On with the show! **

* * *

><p>"Let us through, let us through," the mutants and Moira all exclaimed. They had just arrived in the hospital the day after Kotoha had been admitted in, and none of the doctors and nurses would let anyone see her.<p>

"I'm sorry, I can't," a nurse calmly explained, despite all the yelling. "It's against hospital rules-"

"Screw the rules, I have money," Charles exclaimed. Everyone looked at Charles as if he had gone crazy. Saying something like that was extremely out of character for him. "Please, let us see her! She's family!"

"And how are all of you," the nurse gestured to everyone, "related to her."

"That," he pointed to Raven, who was currently in her human form, "is her sister, and we're all of her cousins. Now can we see her?"

"She's not awake, and you're lucky you got your cousin here when you did. She's lost a lot of blood."

"How much blood," Alex asked, growing pale.

"A lot. The bullet did a lot of damage to her ribs, given that it became lodged in the cartilage. "You know, the connective tissue between your ribs and your sternum or breastbone."

"Look, I know she's not awake, but don't they say that people in comas can hear you," Sean asked.

The nurse nodded and sighed. "Come back tomorrow. They're currently performing a transfusion, and even with the transfusion, it could take a while. Broken tissue such as cartilage connecting the ribs to the sternum or breastbone can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks to heal. As for when she wakes up...well, that's for her body to decide."

* * *

><p>Days went by, as the mutants visited Kotoha every day in the hospital. Even Hayate and the rest of the Gingamen came with them, and the Gokaigers also came. The Doctor came as well, but he had to leave shortly after he arrived at the hospital. Something about inspecting an old wardrobe from World War II, and given that he was the Gokaigers' ride into this time, he had to take them back to their time. No questions were asked as the mad man with the bowtie stepped into his TARDIS and vanished.<p>

Alex was currently sitting in Kotoha's room, just rambling away at some of the various things going on in the mansion. Alex had asked the others to be alone with Kotoha, so Sean, Hank, and Raven went to do something (probably get something to eat or drink) with the Gingamen (who would leave after they saw that Kotoha made a full recovery), and while everyone knew that Charles came to the hospital with them, no one knew where he was, and nobody felt like asking or looking for him. Silent tears went down Alex's face as he rambled on and on, before he heard it. A slight gasp. The gasp then turned into a grunt, and it was so soft, Alex thought that he was imagining things. About two minutes later, Kotoha's eyes slowly opened, revealing her beautiful, warm, brown eyes. "Hey, sleepyhead," Alex whispered, wiping his tears away, and smiling at her.

"Hey," she sighed, as she smiled back at him weakly. "Where am I?"

"The hospital," Raven explained, walking in, followed by Sean and Beast, who were followed by the Gingamen. "Those guys...the Gingamen, or whoever they were, said they had to go. They could tell you woke up, though. Something about 'feeling it in the wind' or something. I dunno."

"Do you remember anything," Sean asked.

Kotoha's eyes widened. "Charles," she whispered. "Is he..."

"He's fine," Beast explained, gently placing one of his paws on Kotoha's arm. "You should be more worried about yourself."

"Where is he?"

"We don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"We mean we don't know. We all went to get stuff to eat after the Doctor left with the Gokaigers when Alex asked if he could be alone with you. No one felt like looking for Charles. We all assumed he wanted to be-"

"Oh, good, you're up," a doctor commented, walking in. "How are you feeling, Miss Hanaori?"

"Kind of groggy, but happy to be awake and that my friends are here," Kotoha replied.

The doctor quickly took some notes on a clipboard, before saying, "Since you're not sick, we don't have to run any tests. However, we want to keep you here for one more night."

"Will I be able to walk," Kotoha asked.

"It will take time, but you will be able to eventually. In the mean time, I strongly suggest that you use this wheelchair to get around." Right on cue, a nurse walked in with a wheelchair all folded up. She unfolded it for Kotoha. The doctor looked around, and said, "Right, well, I'll be off, then. Nurse, you're needed in the delivery room."

The doctor and the nurse walked out. Kotoha looked at the others, as she asked, "Could you help me into the wheelchair?" Raven smiled at her friend, and quickly helped Kotoha into the wheelchair.

"Where are you going to go," Raven asked.

"I need to find Charles. I know he's still here. Probably outside the hospital."

"Do you want one of us to come with you?"

Kotoha shook her head. "I want to talk to him alone."

Kotoha wheeled out of the hospital room. Rather, she attempted to, before she realized that she rolled the wheels the wrong way, and the chair went backwards and crashed into the wall. "Ouch," Kotoha muttered, rubbing where a bandage was.

"You all right," Alex asked.

"Yeah, but I think someone should wheel me out until we find Charles. I think I can figure it out from there," Kotoha replied, smiling. Everyone smiled back at her. Her smile was contagious.

"I'll go with you," Alex offered, and Kotoha nodded. Alex grabbed the handles of the wheelchair from behind, and began to wheel Kotoha out of the hospital room.

"So...who wants to go back and finish their coffee," Raven asked, as the everyone else nodded.

* * *

><p>"You sure you're doing okay," Alex asked for the fifth time in about twenty minutes.<p>

"Alex, the more you ask me if I'm okay, the more stress I'm going to get into, and the more stress I get into is going to make me say that I'm not okay," Kotoha sighed. "Besides, the doctor said that stress wasn't good for me."

"They always say that, though," Alex complained as he wheeled Kotoha around the hospital, continuing to look for Charles.

Kotoha laughed. "Really? I've never been a patient at a hospital, so I wouldn't know."

"Really? You didn't go for your Shinkenger duties?"

"Our mentor didn't want the hospital people to be put in danger, so he took care of us when we were injured. My sister was in the hospital, but I never had the chance to visit her much."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Never been shot before, though. And may I say that I NEVER want to get shot again?"

"No one wants to."

"I wanted to save him, though. Didn't realize a bullet would hurt so much."

"Well, that's to be expected, I guess." The two walked in silence. Rather, Alex wheeled Kotoha around more until they heard something. It was a rather unpleasant sound that sounded like someone strangling a cat. "Is that a dying animal," Alex asked Kotoha, stopping his walk.

"Not sure, but it sounds like one," Kotoha mused, as they continued to follow the sound. Surprisingly, they found Charles, sitting with his back against the hospital's structure. He was trying, and failing, to play Kotoha's flute. "Could you...um..." Kotoha was trying to figure out the best way to as Alex to leave.

"You want to talk to him alone. Got it. Just come back, okay?"

"No worries there," Kotoha replied.

"You sure you can wheel this by yourself?"

"Well, let's put it this way: I'll know I went in reverse if I crash into a tree." The two laughed, and Kotoha ignored the pain in her ribs, before waving to Alex, and wheeling over to Charles. She sat and listened for a minute, before she said, "You know you're not playing it the right way, right? It sounds like a dying animal."

Charles handed the instrument to Kotoha and sighed. "It always seems to calm you down. I hoped it would do the same for me," he replied, sighing.

"It's not your fault, you know." Charles looked at Kotoha with a raised eyebrow. "Me getting...well, shot. It hurts like hell, but it's not your fault."

"I should have-"

"There's things we all should have done that we couldn't have, Charles. Erik was going to leave us, I could see it. He wasn't going to stop at just killing Shaw."

"You could have died, you know."

"Maybe, but if I did, I would have died knowing I protected those I care about."

The two sat in silence, before Charles asked, "Was it hard?" Kotoha raised an eyebrow. "Watching someone you love walk out on you. Someone who had totally different beliefs and everything."

Kotoha sighed, as she realized who Charles was talking about. "It was. I thought I could tell Chiaki anything, and I thought he would accept me for me. I guess...mutants are..."

"Different," Charles supplied.

"I was going to say difficult, but different works, too." Kotoha sighed. "I guess it's hard for everyone to deal with." Kotoha looked at her hands, before looking back up at the sky, and said, "He was right about one thing, though. Erik, I mean."

"And that would be?"

"For a professor, you sure ask a lot of questions." Charles smiled at Kotoha, before she answered, "I could tell that he thought you were brothers. He thought that you both wanted the same thing."

"We didn't."

"I know. I thought that Chiaki would have been more...accepting. After everything that we've been through...I thought nothing would have changed."

Charles sighed. He asked, "Kotoha, let me ask you something, and I want you to answer me honestly."

"Okay..." Kotoha said, raising an eyebrow. "It's not like I could lie in the first place."

"Are you happy?"

Kotoha's eyes widened at the question. "Am I happy," she asked herself. She thought over the past events up to this precise moment in time, and sighed to herself. She gave a small smile, and replied, "I guess so. I'm really not sure how I feel, to be perfectly honest."

"Understandable, I suppose. I probably should have asked the question differently. Let's try this again: are you happy now? Right now?"

"Right now," Kotoha mused. She sighed again, and replied, "Yes, I suppose I am. I like being here in America. I miss Japan, but I like it here. Being with people like me, and this new life." She grimaced, before adding, "If there's one thing I'm not happy about, though, it's this stupid wheelchair! I wheeled it into the wall by accident when I first got it. Luckily, the doctors and nurses say I'll be able to walk and everything within a few weeks, and I get to come back to the mansion tomorrow. I-" Kotoha suddenly got cut off, as her eyes changed color. They went from their normal brown to a cold blue-grey.

"Kotoha," Charles shouted, quickly getting to his feet and waving a hand in front of her. "Kotoha!"

"It's...a room," Kotoha described, and Charles realized that she was seeing something through someone else. "There's a woman there. Blonde hair...super pale skin, and ice blue eyes. She-" Kotoha's voice changed to an all too familiar deep voice, as she said, "I know we've had our differences."

Charles jolted at the voice. "Erik," he gasped.

Kotoha's eyes changed to an ice cold sea blue, and her voice changed to a soft female's voice, as she asked, "Where's your telepath friend?"

"Gone," Kotoha spoke in the deeper voice. "Left a bit of a gap in my life, if I'm to be honest. I was rather hoping you would fill it. Join us."

"Erik, I believe," Kotoha said, with the female's voice.

"I prefer," the deeper voice said, using Kotoha to speak, "Magneto." Kotoha gave a weak gasp, and her eyes changed back to brown, before she leaned over in her wheelchair and started vomiting, and once that ceased, she started sobbing uncontrollably. Charles rubbed her back, as she sobbed and sobbed. As her sobs quieted down to cries, and then hiccups, she quickly collapsed into a deep sleep.

* * *

><p>Mako went after Taylor with her Heaven Fan, but given that Taylor's animal was the Eagle, she flew with the wind, and it didn't really affect her that much. Taylor continued to try clawing at Mako, but she was quickly kicked away by Mako. "Give it up, Taylor," Mako snarled. "Takeru and I have been through so much more than you and the other Wild Force Rangers can possibly imagine."<p>

"You don't understand," Taylor growled, as she clawed at Mako. "Takeru's the first one to see through my whole 'tough-girl' facade, and see the real me. I can't just ignore my feelings for him!"

Mako sent more wind in Taylor's direction, knocking Taylor off her feet and making her fall to the ground. Taylor got up, though, and charged once again, this time with a gold sword. "Golden Eagle Sword," Taylor shouted, this time knocking Mako off of her feet.

"You'll never get Takeru," Mako snarled.

Taylor laughed, before saying, "We'll have to see about that, won't we, Mako?"

Mako ignored that comment, and the two continued to slash at each other, until Takeru shouted, "Oi, both of you! Stop this!" Taylor and Mako both stopped fighting and disengaged their transformations, only for them to start arguing with each other. "Shut up," Takeru shouted. "You're both my friends," Takeru sighed, as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Do you have any idea how much it hurts to see you two fighting? Look, you're both bleeding," Takeru pointed out, looking at blood on both women's clothes.

Mako gave huffed, and so did Taylor, before Mako walked off. "Oi, Mako," Takeru sighed, chasing after her.

Mako tried as hard as she could to keep her emotions under control. Was Taylor's motive to take Takeru away from her and get him back? Was that why Taylor was here? Mako sighed, and heard the sound of footsteps catching up with her. "**Takeru**," Mako sighed, as she stopped. "**I know this is going to sound a little weird, but I feel like I have to ask.**" Mako took a deep breath, before the words all came out in a rush, "**Do you like me?**"

"**Eh,**" Takeru asked, unsure if Mako actually asked what he thought she did. It was as though she said words, but he couldn't understand any of them.

"**Do you...like me? I mean...do you _like_ me,**" Mako repeated.

For Takeru, time just froze. Mako actually asked him if he _liked _her! He couldn't afford to stare at her like a total idiot for too long, so the words quickly rushed out of his mouth before he could stop them, "**Yes, Mako. I like you.**"

"**Really,**" Mako asked, a smile lighting up her face. "**I like you, too, Takeru! But...do you like Taylor?**"

"**Eh?**"

"**Do you like Taylor?**"

"**Taylor's just a friend. My feelings for her are different from what I feel for you.**" And with that, Takeru pulled Mako into a long, deep, and passionate kiss.

Snickers were heard behind bushes. Snickers that likely belonged to Chiaki, Ryuunosuke, and Genta. As for where Taylor was-or went, for that matter-no one cared. No one looked for her. They all took in the scene taking place before them.

* * *

><p><strong>TWO MONTHS LATER<strong>

Well, it was Christmastime at the Xavier Mansion, and the house was quite busy. Charles and Kotoha agreed not to talk about what happened at the hospital. Rather, Kotoha reasoned with Charles, who, in the end, agreed not to tell anyone. Charles had erased Moira's memory of the mutants, given that he couldn't afford for her to tell the CIA anything. He knew she wouldn't but she had been through so much already, that he didn't want to see her put her job in jeopardy anymore. Instead, all the mutants busied themselves with getting the house ready for Thanksgiving, and now, Christmas. However, no one knew where Charles was. Apparently, he went into his room, and hadn't come out for at least four hours that day. No one paid it too much mind, as they got the house ready for Christmas.

Sean was trying to put up decorations high up on the roof while he screamed, but he couldn't do both at the same time, and often fell down quite a bit. Hank was working in his lab (as per usual), with the help of Alex, who was helping him mold various pieces of metal with his powers and helping Hank make new stuff for the newly named G-Men, who were now X-Men. Unfortunately for Hank, Alex's powers did a little too much damage to smaller pieces of metal. Kotoha had finally gotten out of her wheelchair, and after a few sessions of physical therapy, was quickly helping Raven out with making Christmas Eve dinner, and enjoying the girl time.

"Aw, dammit," Raven sighed, as she looked through the spice cabinet.

"What," Kotoha asked, as she put a tray of cookies in the oven.

"We're out of rosemary and thyme."

"Rosemary and thyme? Like the song, 'Scarborough Fair?' You know, it goes 'Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme...'" Kotoha sang.

"Not like the song, silly," Raven laughed, playfully teasing Kotoha. "The spices. We need them for the turkey. And for the record, we do have parsley. And sage. Hm...maybe there is a recipe for an herb roasted turkey in that song."

"Very funny, Raven. So, what are we going to do? Can't we substitute stuff?"

"If we do that, the turkey won't have the same taste. I'd ask you to go to the store, but..." Raven looked out the window, to see that the sky was turning a dark shade of grey. "The weather said that there's supposed to be a huge snowstorm tonight or something. He didn't say when." Raven then morphed into someone really tall, to reach a small box up on a high shelf, before changing into her normal blue form. "Let's see...herb roasted turkey...herb roasted...a-ha! Found it! Here's another recipe! It's pretty much the same thing, but instead of parsley, rosemary and thyme, it calls for sage and basil, which...we have!"

"Yes," Kotoha exclaimed, accidentally knocking a bowl of flour all over Raven. The girl who was usually blue was now covered in white. "Eep! It's a Raven ghost," Kotoha squealed, as she ran away from Raven, who now had a bowl of flour in her hands. Just as Raven caught up, though, she tripped and fell on Kotoha.

The two laughed, until Alex and Sean walked in. "Damn, Alex," Sean said, punching Alex in the arm, "why didn't you tell me that there was going to be girl-on-girl action?"

"Didn't know," Alex shrugged, smiling down at Kotoha. "Oh, but don't stop because we're here. Feel free to keep going."

"Shut it," Raven and Kotoha replied, getting up.

Raven dusted herself off, but she was still covered in the flour. "Right," Raven laughed, "I'm going to go shower and get all this stuff off of me. You," she pointed at Alex, "have to help Kotoha with the turkey. Follow the recipe exactly. You," she pointed at Sean, "are in charge of the cookies. The timer should be going off right about-" Raven was cut off, as the timer went off. "Now. Take them out of the oven and stick them on the cooling tray, before putting in the next batch."

"Yes, ma'am," Sean replied, giving her a military salute as she walked away. Alex and Kotoha looked at him, before Sean shrugged and said, "It's not my fault that she sounds like a drill sergeant.

* * *

><p>Well, the turkey was finished, the cookies were out of the oven (although Sean somehow managed to burn some, and others were in crumbs), and all the other foods for Christmas Eve dinner at the Xavier mansion were ready. All that was missing was...<p>

"Charles," Raven shouted, but to no avail. No answer.

"Let me try," Sean offered.

"No," everyone yelled.

"Sheesh, it was just a suggestion," Sean said, putting his hands up defensively. "Care to try, Kotoha?"

"He's probably too far away, and he said I shouldn't strain my telepathy," Kotoha sighed.

"Alex could send up a flare," Sean exclaimed.

"And let about fifty million people know where we are," Alex scoffed. "I think not."

"Beast could-"

"No," Beast growled. "Absolutely not."

"Then that leaves Sean," Kotoha muttered. "I'll go get the headphones and earplugs." Kotoha went to get said headphones and earplugs, and was back in a matter of minutes with them. "Right. Everything in and on!"

Everyone put their earplugs in and their headphones on, and nodded at Sean. He took a deep breath, and then screamed, using his supersonic screaming ability, "!" A few windows shattered when Sean was done, and everyone took off their hearing protectors. Still no response. "Aw, come on! I even got a super special expensive suit for tonight! I never wear suits!"

"And what on earth are you wearing, anyway," Raven asked, noticing what Kotoha was wearing. It was a strange outfit to Raven, but it was also very pretty. It was what looked like a yellow dress with pink flowers, but part of the dress wrapped around Kotoha's body, and was held together by some kind of light green sash with a red belt. The sleeves were very large, and the outfit itself went down to Kotoha's ankles.

"It's a kimono," Kotoha replied. "I thought I'd get dressed up, considering it's a holiday."

"It looks really nice on you," Alex complimented, who was wearing a suit identical to Sean's.

"Thanks." Kotoha smiled.

Raven twirled around in her dress, before she said, "Think we should start without him?"

"No need," Charles replied, as he walked downstairs in a nice suit.

"Where were you," Sean asked. "I tried screaming and-"

"I heard you. A man can't get ready for Christmas dinner in peace," Charles asked, as he rubbed his temples.

"Well, we thought you'd be ready sooner. You hadn't come out of your room for a long time today, and-"

"I'm fine," Charles said. Kotoha raised an eyebrow at Charles, which he ignored. She could tell he was lying. It was also evident that he had been crying, apparently, but no one else noticed. "Well, what are we waiting for? I hear that the girls made dinner, so let's eat."

The mutants all walked into the dining room, and sat down. "It smells good," Beast commented, as he pulled out a chair. He, too, was wearing a nice suit.

"You couldn't get any smell of it from the lab," Raven asked, as she got out a chair for herself.

"The door was closed, because it was loud down there. I was taking care of some last minute things."

Charles sat down at the head of the table. It was a rectangle-shaped table, draped in a red tablecloth, and to Charles's left sat Kotoha, Raven, and Beast. To Charles's right sat Alex and Sean. There were two empty seats at the table, and nobody needed to be told who those were for. Even though the two people weren't present, their plates were filled to the brim with a little of everything. "**Itadakimasu**," Kotoha said, starting to help herself to some bread. Everyone stared at her.

"Ite...what was the rest of it," Sean asked.

"**Itadakimasu**," Kotoha enunciated for the table. "My bad. My Japanese gets in the way at times. **Itadakimasu **literally means 'I humbly receive.' When you finish the meal, you say '**Gochisosama-deshita**,' which means 'Thank you for a good meal.'"

"Oh," Sean said, as he tried to say the word again, and failed.

"You'll get it," Kotoha said, as she laughed along with everyone else, who managed to say it without fail.

"How come you can do it so easily," Sean complained.

"Because Japanese is her first language, idiot," Alex said, slapping Sean across the back of the head.

"Alex," Charles sighed, "didn't you and Raven work on something this morning?"

"How come I never get any credit," Sean complained.

"Wh-oh, yeah," Alex remembered. "Let's go get it. It's in the kitchen." Within seconds, Sean, Raven, and Alex returned carrying a plate covered with a blue table cloth. They set it on the table. Kotoha stared at it, wondering what it was. "Well, go on," Alex said. "I don't know what you did with food like this in Japan, but you do know you're not supposed to stare at it, right?" Alex pushed the plate towards Kotoha, who took it off to find...sushi! It didn't look quite right, because the rolls looked kind of lopsided, but the sushi was filled with sweet potato and pear. Kotoha smiled. "We know that it's your first time away from Japan for Christmas, so we figured we'd try to bring a little bit of Japan to you. Sorry if the sushi looks-"

"It's fine," Kotoha complimented, as tears of joy went down her face. "It's the thought that counts. And they really look great!"

"Well, what are we waiting for," Sean asked, as he and Alex and Raven all sat back down.

"**Itadakimasu!**"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: ****Happy Holidays! I don't celebrate Christmas (I'm Jewish), and I had actually planned to put this up yesterday, but didn't have time. You know what Jews do for Christmas? We eat Chinese food and go to the movies! I saw _Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol_ at the IMAX, and it was AWESOME! Anyone who hasn't seen it: check it out! Happy holidays to everyone! And this story isn't over yet...I've still got one-shots coming and a super epic fight with Doukoku, Ora, Shane, and Hone Onna! Stay tuned! R&R! ~kanna**

**And now for something completely different: On November 25th, 2011, voice actor Dan Green's (who did the voice for Yugi and Yami/Atem in Yu-Gi-Oh) wife passed away after giving birth to twins: a boy and a girl. While he has been comforted by the constant love and support of his family and friends, it would be greatly appreciated if you could share your thoughts (and/or financial or material support) as he and his kids struggle to rebuild their lives. Please Google "The Dan Green Guestbook" and click on the first link to make a donation or share your thoughts. Donations are also being accepted through LittleKuriboh's Charity Auction.**

**For the record, I do not know Dan Green. I have no association with Dan Green, other than being a big fan of his.**

**Chapter Title: My Heart Will Go On  
>Artist: Celine Dion<strong>


	12. You're Not Alone

**A/N: This chapter officially starts the one-shots! Sorry it's so short...I wanted to finish it before the new year! Don't worry! I plan on starting the next one-shot on either New Year's Eve (tomorrow my time) or New Year's Day, before putting this story on a temporary hiatus to work on other stories. In honor of "The Hobbit" coming to theaters next year, my main focus will be Lord of the Rings fanfics!**

**kanna-chan owns nothing except for her OV, Hone Onna (well...I own this particular version of her at any rate. If you want more info, let me know)!**

**DriveRed and Morgana359: Your OC mutants are done for now...I won't say much more about them, except that they will be returning!**

**Enough of my babbling! On with the show!**

**Oh! Chapter title: You're Not Alone  
>Artist: Big Time Rush (yes, go ahead and laugh...I'm a huge BTR fan) <strong>

* * *

><p>"IT'S CHRISTMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAS," Sean screamed, the moment he woke up and saw presents under the Christmas tree. "SANTA CAME! AND IT SNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWED!"<p>

"Next time, I'm wearing earplugs to bed," Kotoha mumbled angrily, as she got out of bed and walked across the hall to Raven's room to knock on her door. There was no need for the knock, though, as Raven opened the door.

"Did you say something about earplugs," Raven asked, yawning. Kotoha nodded. "I need a pair. Blue, preferably."

"Why blue?"

"Because Sean can't tell if I'm wearing them or not."

"Smart."

The two put on their robes, before heading downstairs, where they were quickly met by Alex and Hank. "Merry Christmas," Hank yawned.

"It's too early for this," Alex grumbled, rubbing his eyes. "What time is it anyway?"

"7:30," Kotoha replied, looking at the clock.

"Wonderful," Alex yawned. "Wake me when the world freezes over. I'm going back to-"

"No you're not," Kotoha mumbled, reaching out towards a potted plant and calling the dirt in it to her. The dirt became a glove on her hand, and it reached out to grab Alex and hardened. "If we have to suffer, so do you. Do you think Sean's part robot? If so, maybe he has an off-switch."

"You can let me go, you know," Alex said, as he struggled to break free from the grip.

"Are you going to stay down here," Kotoha asked.

"Yeah, now let me go!"

"As you wish."

Kotoha sent the dirt back to the pot, and Alex fell on his stomach to the ground. "Sean doesn't have an off-switch," Alex complained, as he got up. "It's like someone put chocolate syrup instead of milk in his bottle when he was a baby and the sugar rush hasn't worn off yet."

"Speaking of chocolate," Raven asked, "I'm going to go make some hot chocolate. Anyone else want some?" This was met with a variety of nods. "Then you're going to have to make it yourself, I'm too tired to bother with anyone else's."

"Raven, you suck," Alex mumbled, as he walked into the kitchen to make his own hot chocolate.

"Thanks for the compliment," Raven yawned, as she and Kotoha walked in. "No hot chocolate for Sean."

"Good idea," Beast growled, as he walked into the kitchen and made himself some coffee.

"Where'd you come from," Kotoha asked.

"The lab."

"Okay...um...don't take this the wrong way, but you look terrible," Kotoha stammered. Beast glanced up from pouring his coffee, with the coffee pot still over the cup. His eyes were bloodshot, and he looked really tired.

"I know," Beast replied, his hand still over the coffee. It wasn't until he heard the splattering of coffee on the countertop when he realized that he had overpoured. "Aw, dammit."

"Here, let me-"

"I got it. Thanks, though," Beast said, as he got paper towels and began to clean up the spilled coffee. He drank a little coffee off of the top of the mug once he finished cleaning up, before he grimaced at the taste and went back down to the lab.

"Something's keeping him busy," Alex commented, as he walked over to Kotoha, with two hot chocolates in hand. "Here," he said, handing her one.

"Thanks," Kotoha replied, sipping the hot beverage.

"So...when are we doing presents," Sean asked, walking into the room.

"You know, it's a miracle you still have a voice from all that screaming," Raven mumbled glaring at Sean. Alex and Kotoha also glared at him.

"What did I do," Sean asked, putting his hands up defensively.

"You woke us up at 7:30 in the morning. It's Christmas Day; we wanted to sleep in."

"Oh." There was a moment of silence, before Sean noticed the mugs filled with steaming hot chocolate in everyone's hands. "Can I have one?"

"No," everyone yelled.

"What time is it, anyway," Kotoha asked.

"It's...8:15," Alex yawned. "Sean, when I wake up, I am going to kill you for waking us up this early. And then, when you're dead, I'm going to dig up your body and kill you again."

"Now, Alex," Charles chastised, as he walked into the living room, "murder is illegal in at least-"

"But Sean woke us up at 7:30 this morning," Alex complained.

"What were you doing up at 7:30? I didn't hear anything."

"What the-of course. The Prof sleeps with earplugs. That's just fuck-"

"Alex."

"That's just fan-tucking-fastic," Alex corrected himself.

"Now...who wants to open presents," Charles asked.

Raven mumbled something, before she sighed, and asked, "Can't we do presents later? When we're all more awake?"

"Well, what would we do now?"

"Sleep," everyone except Sean answered, and with that, they all fell asleep on the couch.

Charles smiled to himself, before heading back upstairs.

* * *

><p>"Raven, you're doing it wrong," Kotoha laughed, as Raven sat with a clipboard in her hand and a paintbrush with a bottle of ink next to her. It was about two hours later, given that the ringing in Alex, Kotoha, and Raven's ears had kept them from sleep for about twenty minutes or so.<p>

"It looks right, though," Raven protested.

"You just wrote a swear word on a Christmas card!"

"But you said-"

"I _said_ that you were supposed to write it like this," Kotoha laughed, as she demonstrated the correct way.

"But it looks-"

"No it doesn't!"

"Whatever you're talking about, I'm all for it," Alex supplied, as he walked in. "Who wrote a sw-"

"I'm trying to teach Raven how to write in Japanese," Kotoha explained. "She seems to be mastering the swear words pretty quickly."

"Kotoha," Raven laughed.

"When are we going to start on my lessons," Alex asked.

"As soon as Raven stops writing swear words," Kotoha replied. Raven mumbled something under her breath, before Charles, Sean, and Beast walked in from all different directions.

"Oh, good, you're all up," Charles commented. "Let's do presents. Have we all remembered our agreement of one present for each person?" This was met with nods from everyone, before Charles asked, "Who wants to go first?"

"I'll go, I guess," Raven muttered, and shrugged her shoulders. She dove under the tree and got out a series of presents that were wrapped in dark blue wrapping paper with a light blue ribbon. "Charles, this is for you." She handed him the box, which he unwrapped. It was a book on genetic mutations entitled _Mutants: On Genetic Variety and the Human Body_.

"This is a book I've never even heard of," Charles mused. "I'm impressed! It looks great, Raven! Thank you!"

"You're welcome! Alex, this is for you," Raven said, as she gave Alex a slightly smaller package wrapped in similar wrapping paper. Alex opened it to reveal an MP3 player with black headphones.

"Nice," Alex commented, looking the MP3 player over.

"Glad you like it! Let's see...this is for Sean." Raven handed Sean a slightly bigger package, and inside it was a box with a pair of earmuffs inside. "It's so that you don't hear yourself when you scream super loud like you usually do. Don't want you to lose your hearing, now, do we?" Sean laughed as he thanked Raven, before Raven handed her next package over to Beast. It wasn't that long, but it was about two fingers thick, and when he opened it, he found a blowtorch with a face protecting mask inside.

"You didn't give that to him so that he could blow down the house, did you, Raven," Charles asked teasingly.

"It's for when he works with metal bits," Raven laughed. Beast laughed and thanked Raven, as she handed her last parcel to Kotoha. It was a small light blue box, and when Kotoha opened it, she found a 'best friends' necklace inside. Raven pulled down the collar of her robe to show that she was wearing one half of it.

"Thanks, Raven," Kotoha smiled.

"So...who wants to go next," Charles asked.

* * *

><p>Well, after Sean handed out his presents (which were the same for everyone, earmuffs of various colors and earplugs to match), Charles handed out his presents, and Alex and Beast handed out theirs, but saved the last one for Kotoha. "I hope you like it," Beast said.<p>

Kotoha opened it and gasped. It was a Shodophone! Well, it wasn't exactly, but it had the brush mode and the moment Kotoha touched it, she could feel her mojikara going through the phone. "How on earth-"

"Blood, sweat, and tears," Beast commented with a straight face. Kotoha gasped again, before Beast said, "Kidding, kidding! Hard work, and Alex helped out, too. The smaller pieces were hard, though."

Kotoha turned to face Alex. "Alex...you helped," she asked, smiling at him.

Alex blushed a little, looked down at the ground, and said, "Um...yeah. It was fun getting to work on it; I can't wait to see you with it in action."

"Can I...Can I try to transform into ShinkenYellow," Kotoha asked. This was met with a series of nods, and Kotoha stood up and drew the kanji for 'earth.' She spun it around, and the kanji became her uniform and her helmet as she henshined into ShinkenYellow, with her Shinkenmaru and all her discs. She disengaged her transformation, as she shouted, "Yes!"

"Glad to see you're happy," Alex smiled.

"I love it," Kotoha exclaimed. "Thank you!" She ran over to Alex and Beast and hugged both of them. Alex's face turned a brighter shade of red, which everyone seemed to ignore.

"So what do you have for us, Kotoha," Sean asked.

Kotoha sighed. Truth was, she really didn't know what to get anyone. She went out with Raven two days before Christmas Eve to get the 2NE1 CD that had their song "I Am The Best" on it, but that wasn't really a Christmas present. "Well...um..." Kotoha stammered.

"You did get stuff for us, right," Sean asked. "It's all under the tree, right?"

"Well...um...thing is...it's not really a Christmas present. I don't have one for each of you," Kotoha stammered. "It's kinda...one thing for everyone, I guess."

"You mean you didn't get us stuff," Sean asked, starting to pout.

"Can you shut up and listen to her," Alex asked, smacking Sean across the back of the head.

"Alex," Charles chastised.

"He should listen to what she has to say. If he doesn't give a fu-a darn," Alex corrected himself, "then he shouldn't be here."

"Alex, it's fine," Kotoha sighed. "This...well...I guess I just wanted to say thank you." Kotoha dug into one of her robe pockets and got out her flute, which she quickly proceeded to situate in her hands, and before she started to play, she said, "These past two months have been amazing. You all are really helping me feel at home, and as much as I miss Japan, I feel like I have a second home here, with all of you. So I just wanted to say thanks." And with that, Kotoha began to play a soft but sweet melody that had Alex, Beast, and Charles in tears by the end of it.

"You have to teach me how to play that," Charles smiled, as he wiped his eyes.

"You sounded so...amazing," Alex breathed, as he tried to gain his composure. Beast was still in tears as he did his best to hide it.

"So that's it," Sean asked. Everyone turned to look at him and just laughed.

* * *

><p>"Charles, that sounds like a dying animal," Kotoha commented, as Charles messed up with the instrument yet again. It was a few days later. New Year's Day, to be specific, and Kotoha was trying to teach Charles how to play her flute. He went to the store and got himself one, and asked Kotoha to teach him how to play it.<p>

"But you said to hold it like-" Charles started.

"You're holding it wrong. It's not supposed to be at an angle. The center of the fingers of your right hand," Kotoha held up her right hand, "are supposed to cover the first _four_ holes, starting from the bottom of the instrument. Not your fingertips. Your left hand's fingers should look like this." Kotoha demonstrated how Charles's hands should have looked, while Raven laughed at her brother.

"I honestly don't see what's so funny about this, Raven," Charles said, as he tried to copy Kotoha.

"It's funny hearing you produce the sound of a dying animal," Raven laughed. "I didn't think it was possible."

"I don't mean to be rude," Charles asked, "but why are you here?"

"Kotoha and I are supposed to go food shopping today, and she said that she'd listen to my new 2NE1 CD with me."

"I'll go with you as soon as Charles can produce a decent sounding sound," Kotoha promised, before turning to Charles. "You have to hold it _horizontally_. Don't tilt it."

"I'm not tilting it," Charles sighed, exasperated.

"Yes, you are," Alex said, as he walked in. "Sean's driving me nuts, and Hank doesn't need any help in the lab. I got bored, and I heard something that sounded like a dying animal, so I-"

"Can we stop with the dying animal references," Charles asked through gritted teeth.

"Now, sit up straight," Kotoha said, really annoyed at all of the interruptions. "Your mouth should look like this," Kotoha demonstrated, before continuing, "and you want to blow towards the edge of the mouth of the instrument."

Charles sighed, put the instrument up to his mouth, and blew, only for a sound that sounded like someone strangling a cat to come out. He threw the instrument to the floor and walked out, as he mumbled something about dying animals. Kotoha looked at Raven, and asked, "Is he usually like this when he doesn't get something right?"

"Not sure. Ready to go," Raven asked.

"Yeah."

"I'll just leave Charles a note that we went food shopping. Are you coming," Raven asked Alex.

"Sure, why not," Alex replied, shrugging his shoulders.


	13. Jar of Hearts

**A/N: HAPPY NEW YEAR! Don't worry! In honor of "The Hobbit" coming to theaters next year (December 14, 2012...darn you, Peter Jackson, for making us wait so long), my main focus will be Lord of the Rings fanfics after I finish this one-shot, and then one more (which will go into the fight with Doukoku, which will be done AFTER I get to a good point with LotR).**

**Special features for this chappy: cameo of a certain special X-Men that we all know and love!**

**kanna-chan owns nothing except for her OV, Hone Onna (well...I own this particular version of her at any rate. If you want more info, let me know)!**

**DriveRed and Morgana359: Your OC mutants are done for now...I won't say much more about them, except that they will be returning!**

**Enough of my babbling! On with the show!**

* * *

><p>"Alex, your handwriting is atrocious," Raven commented as she squinted at the list while she, Kotoha, and Alex were in the store.<p>

"I just wrote what the Prof told me; it's not my fault that he said everything so fast," Alex complained.

"Let's see...we need...what the hell? Did you write 'brains?'"

"What the-" Alex snatched the list out of Raven's hands and said, "That says 'BREAD' you idiot. BREAD. Not BRAINS. BREAD."

"Let me see," Kotoha piped up, as she took the list out of Raven's hands. "Bread, cereal, milk, eggs, curry, meat, juice, and fish. This should be relatively easy."

"It would be, if it weren't for the fact that Charles didn't put what kind of meat and fish to get," Raven sighed, flipping her hair behind her. She turned to Alex and asked, "Are you sure that he just said meat and fish?"

"Um...not sure..." Alex stammered.

"Ugh," Raven sighed, as she took a closer look at the list, before spotting a word. "What does that say?"

"Beef," Alex replied, before his eyes widened, and he said, "Oh."

"And that word, underneath it, near the word 'fish?'"

"Shrimp, salmon, and...**ha...ma...chi.** What the hell is **hamachi**?"

"**Hamachi **is yellow tail," Kotoha explained. "Looks like the Professor has been doing his research."

"Yeah," Alex nodded, as he continued to read on, "**Ma..gu...ro, i...ku...ra, ka..ni, **and **ta..ma...go.** What is this stuff?"

"Tuna, salmon roe, crab, and egg omelet, in that order," Kotoha explained. "Why we need this stuff, I don't know. This is stuff that people usually use for _nigirizushi_."

"Nigi...what?"

"_Nigirizushi_. It's a hand-formed sushi that consists of a small mound of sushi rice that's pressed together with a bit of wasabi on top, then the topping-usually a piece of some of the things you just mentioned-goes on top of that, and it's wrapped together with a bit of seaweed. It's very good, but why does Charles want us to get this stuff?"

"Beats me," Raven replied, coming back with the cart. "I suggest we split up. Kotoha, why don't you tackle the sushi stuff, and Alex and I can take care of the rest of it."

"Are you sure," Kotoha asked. "I don't really know my way around here, and no one said how much of what to get."

"Just go with what you think is best," Alex replied, "and we'll meet up back here when we're done."

"Got it," Kotoha said, as she walked over to look for the sushi items. The store was huge, and she had no idea where anything was. There were so many people, Kotoha felt lost, as she walked through. She tried to look for someone to help her, until she bumped into someone. "Ah! I'm so sorry," she exclaimed, trying to look at the person's face, but all she could see was his chest. He was very muscular, and when she looked up, she saw that he had a very animal-like face, and was quickly reminded of Shane from Cuba.

"You all right, kid," the man asked. He was muscular, wore a white shirt with a black leather jacket, black pants, and black shoes.

"Wh-yeah, I'm fine, I-" Kotoha was starting to get a little intimidated, as her telepathy suddenly lost control, and she found herself inside the man's head.

She couldn't pull herself out fast enough, as thoughts of, "_Dammit, another one,_" "_She can't know about my powers,_" and "_Is she Japanese_" rolled through his head. "Something wrong, kid," the man asked.

"You won't believe me, but..."

"Try me."

"I just heard your thoughts."

"You're a-"

"**Aren't you**," Kotoha asked in Japanese.

The man gasped, and asked, "**You're Japanese?**"

Kotoha nodded, and offered her hand. "**My name is Kotoha. Pleased to meet you.**"

"**Logan,**" the man replied, shaking her hand.

"**Also known as Wolverine, am I correct?**"

"**How could you-**"

"**Mind reader, remember?**"

Logan looked at Kotoha, noticing she showed no fear, despite his appearance and his powers, which she probably knew of, given that she could read his mind. "Aren't you afraid of me?"

"Why should I be?"

"You know what I can do."

"True, but you're a person. Just like me, and everyone else here." Kotoha suddenly got images of what looked like metal claws, some kind of containment facility, and a beautiful woman, before she asked, "**Is that your girlfriend?**"

Logan nodded. "**I think so. I don't really remember a lot, but based on what everyone says, that's what I'm going. From what I hear, her name was Kayla.**"

"How do you know Japanese," Kotoha asked, as she moved out of the way for people to get through.

"I went to Japan a few years ago, and met some people. I started learning Japanese to better communicate."

"Impressive. I have to get going; I'm supposed to find sushi stuff, and I have no idea where anything is."

"Here, let me help you get over there. Wait...if you're...you know, you wouldn't happen to know a British guy, would you? Something Xavier..."

"Oh! Charles Xavier? Professor Charles Xavier? I know him," Kotoha replied, as she followed Logan. "Why?"

"A while ago, he told me if I ever needed help, he'd have a place for me. I wasn't very nice to him when we met…so I don't know about the invite."

"Hm...well, I don't know how the Professor is doing right now...we lost one of our leaders recently, so he's taking it kinda hard. If you want, I could talk to him and send you a letter with-"

"Nah, I don't want to give him trouble. Anyway, here we are," Logan said, as they reached the sushi area. "They should have everything you need." Kotoha quickly saw the items that she was looking for, but before she could walk away, Logan stopped her. "Here," he said, pulling out a wad of cash from his wallet. "It's on me."

Kotoha eyed the money warily. "Are you sure? I don't want to trouble you or anything."

"I'm only going to the train station from here. Off to Northern Canada. Alberta, probably. I don't need a lot; I have some friends who live up there who are waiting for me with a place to stay. Take it," Logan said, thrusting the money into Kotoha's hands.

Kotoha sighed, as her hand closed around the money. "Thank you, Logan. Wait...do you have paper? And a pen or pencil or something to write with?"

"Yeah." Logan got out the items in question, before handing them to Kotoha, who quickly scribbled something on there.

"I'm not the Professor, but I have a feeling he'd say that if you ever reconsider joining him, don't hesitate to come to that address. That's where he lives. That's where some other mutants, including me, live, too."

Kotoha handed the paper back to Logan, who took it, and said, "Thanks, kid. I'll keep it in mind." And with that, Logan stuffed the paper into a jacket pocket, paid for his stuff at the express check-out, and left the store.

* * *

><p>"You're serious," Alex said, for the fifth time on the way back to the mansion, as Kotoha told him and Raven about Logan. "The guy had metal claws?"<p>

Kotoha nodded. "Some kind of metal I can't pronounce. Ada...something. He's going to Northern Canada, for some reason," she explained.

"What's there," Raven asked. "All I can think of that could possibly be up there are bars and that it's freezing up there. Tons of snow, from what I hear."

"I'm not sure what's there, given that I've never been," Kotoha sighed, but just before she could open the gate to the Xavier mansion, she heard something. It sounded like a very high-pitched bark. "Did you guys hear that?" Raven and Alex nodded. The high pitched barking continued, as Raven, Alex, and Kotoha followed the sound, to find six small puppies in a box. They put down the groceries.

"What the hell-" Alex asked, and before he knew it, a small black puppy jumped into his arms and started licking him all over the face. Alex was shocked at first, but then he started laughing. "And hello to you, too," he said, laughing, and rubbing the puppy behind the ears.

"There's six puppies here," Raven commented, picking up a small brown puppy with big brown eyes. It looked up at her, and if dogs could smile, this one definitely had a big smile on its face. "Aren't you sweet?" Raven turned the puppy around in her arms so that she could rub its tummy.

"They don't have collars, tags, or anything," Kotoha noticed, as a golden puppy made its way up to her and leaped into her arms. She rubbed its back, as she contacted the Professor, Sean, and Hank telepathically, and within minutes, they were all outside, staring inside the little cardboard box. "We just got back from food shopping, and that box was just there."

Charles bent down on the ground, picking up a gray colored puppy. He looked the puppy square in the eye, as the puppies looked up at Charles with big eyes that he just couldn't say no to. Charles stood up, with the gray puppy still in his arms. "All right, fine. We can keep them. I'll buy the food and everything, but you have to take care of them," he said.

"Now, let's take these puppies inside and talk names." Charles quickly put the gray puppy back in the box, and then gently carried the box inside, while Alex, Raven, and Kotoha carried the groceries. Charles quickly took each puppy out of the box, as one ran over to each mutant. The gray one stuck with Charles, following him as he got out a piece of paper and a pen. "I'm going to put down our names, the color of the dog, and the name of the dog." This was met with a series of nods, as Charles wrote down his name first, along with the color of his dog, and a name. "Raíña," he said, as he wrote it down. Charles received strange looks from the others, as he explained, "It means 'queen' in Galician." Charles's dog was a gray schnauzer.

"Daichi," Kotoha said, as she pet her golden puppy, a small golden retriever. This was also met with a series of looks, as Kotoha explained that Daichi meant 'earth' in Japanese, which Charles quickly wrote down.

"Spike," Alex proclaimed, as he rubbed the tummy of the black puppy in his arms. Alex's puppy was a black cockapoo.

"Spike," Charles repeated, writing it down.

"Perdy," Sean said, as he scratched his puppy, a small dalmatian, behind the ears. Charles quickly wrote it down, before he turned to Hank.

"Bear," Hank said, as his puppy, a small, brown chow chow, just sat on his lap and slept. Charles wrote that down, before turning to Raven.

"Coco," Raven proclaimed, as her newly named puppy started licking Raven's face all over.

Charles wrote down the last name, before he put the paper down, went upstairs, and the sound of a door slamming was heard. "What's up with him," Alex asked.

"No clue," Sean replied.

"He hasn't come out of whatever room he's been in since you left," Hank added.

"Strange," Kotoha muttered.

* * *

><p>The newly named puppy, Daichi, followed Kotoha as she searched for Charles. Raven mumbled something about listening to her 2NE1 CD, Alex went into the bunker for some target practice, no one knew where Sean was, and Hank was likely back in the lab. Kotoha sighed, as she picked up Daichi, and continued to search for Charles. She had a question for him, not to mention that it felt like he was hiding something. For a telepath, he was a really bad liar. "<strong>Where do you think he is, Daichi,<strong>" Kotoha asked her dog, even though she knew he couldn't answer.

Kotoha sighed, as she rubbed Daichi behind the ears. "**This really isn't funny,**" Kotoha sighed. Daichi looked up at Kotoha, as she shook her head. "**He's definitely here somewhere.**" Kotoha continued to walk, as she wondered why the mansion had to be so big! "**Professor, where are you?**"

That's when she heard something coming from some room. It sounded like music of some sort, and not a dying animal. Kotoha looked down at Daichi, and asked, "**Do you think that's him?**" Kotoha sighed, as she opened the door to find Charles, sitting down at the piano, with his puppy curled up next to him on the piano bench as he played.

Charles finished up the last little bit of what he was playing, before he sighed, and said, "I know you're there, you know."

Kotoha smiled sheepishly, as she set Daichi down on the ground, who quickly ran over to Raíña. Raíña jumped down from the piano bench and started rolling over and over with Daichi. Kotoha walked up to the piano, and saw that Charles hadn't even bothered to get up from the piano, let alone turn his head to look. It was evident that he was hiding something. "That was very good. That song, I mean," Kotoha said, trying to start a light conversation. She picked up the sheet music, as she struggled to read words that weren't even in English, "_Scéne Moderato-Swan Lake _by Tchai...kov...sky."

"What do you want, Kotoha," Charles sighed. He still wouldn't turn to face her.

"Is everything all right, Professor?"

"I'm fine. If you're just here to check on me, I can assure you that I am fine. You can go, Kotoha."

"Oh no. Talk to me, Professor. Please?"

"I would," Charles began, "if only there was something to talk about."

"Forgive me for saying this, but you are a horrible liar, Professor." She sat down next to him on the bench.

"Kotoha-"

"Don't _Kotoha_ me," Kotoha shouted, and Charles's eyes widened. He had never heard her shout like this, nor had he ever seen her get angry. Sensing the situation, the dogs stopped rolling, and ran to their respective owners. Raíña stood in front of her master protectively, as Daichi ran over to Kotoha and growled at Raíña, and Raíña whimpered. "I've tried so hard to help all of you since Cuba. You think I don't know about all the time that Hank just shuts himself in his lab and doesn't come up for hours on end? The time that Alex spends in the bunker just letting out all that pent up anger and energy? The fact that Raven is uncomfortable with her natural blue form, even around you, her own brother? The fact that Sean has all these emotions he doesn't know how to deal with? I've tried so hard to help each and every one of you, even when I couldn't help myself! I just want to make things better for everyone! I can't do that if you don't tell me what's bothering you!" Kotoha's eyes widened at everything she had just shouted at Charles.

Kotoha's tone had shocked Charles, but his shock quickly changed to anger, as he shouted, "I just want things to go back to the way they were! Before Cuba!" He turned to face Kotoha with a tear-stricken face. "You don't know what it's like, to watch someone you've come to see as a brother just-" Charles trailed off.

"You're wrong," Kotoha muttered. "I do know. You forget, Chiaki and the rest of the Shinkengers all walked out on me. I've lost a lot of people, Professor. Just like you. It's not something you can just 'get used to.' You have to learn to...live with it, I guess. Something tells me that that's not the only thing on your mind, though."

"Did you-"

"Just a lucky guess." Kotoha looked around the room, as she noticed a picture of a young boy, who Kotoha quickly assumed was Charles when he was young, next to a woman with short and curly blonde hair in a dark colored dress. "Is that your mother, Professor? She looks...sad. Depressed, maybe." Kotoha could quickly see that she had touched a nerve, and was about to pick up Daichi and leave, before Charles put a hand on her arm.

"It's only fair that I explain to you why I reacted the way I did to those insults," Charles sighed. "My father...he wasn't a good man. He had a sharp tongue and a nasty temper. He constantly humiliated my mother in public, and would belittle her constantly. Not long after he died, my mother developed a loathing for all living things, including me. I took up piano a few months after my father died, but every time I messed up on a note, even if I was just learning how to play something, my mother would slap my hands with a ruler that she had with her as she supervised. When she wasn't doing that, she basically abused me the same way my father abused her."

"That's not fair."

"Maybe not to you, and maybe not to me, but it was to her."

Charles began to cry softly, as Daichi stopped growling at Raíña, who leaped onto her master's lap, and curled up in a ball on his lap. Kotoha wasn't sure of what to do, until she remembered what her sister used to do for her when she was upset. She took out her flute and played for Charles, the same way her sister played for her. After a few minutes, both dogs fell asleep to the melody. When Kotoha stopped playing, Charles wiped his eyes on the lapels of his shirt. "My sister...she used to play this for me whenever I got upset. I was bullied a lot at school, and whenever she played it, I would feel better," Kotoha explained, as she looked at her instrument.

"I'm sorry for...well...you know. I've never actually talked about my mother to anyone," Charles sighed, as he wiped his eyes.

Kotoha got up from the piano, picked up the sheet music, and placed it back where it belonged on the piano. "Play. Please," she asked Charles. Charles raised an eyebrow at her. "No worries; I'm not going to slap your hands with a ruler if you mess up, or do anything crazy like that. I'll accompany you, if you want." And with that, the two began to play the opening for _Swan Lake_.

Alex, Sean, Hank, and Raven looked through the door and listened, and Alex's eyes began to tear up. Kotoha was so sweet and kind, and was willing to help out anyone. That was one of the many things Alex loved about her. He then wondered if it was time. Should he reveal his feelings to Kotoha?

* * *

><p><strong>AN: According to wiki, Galician is a language of the Western-Ibero Romance branch, spoken in Galicia, an autonomous community located in northwestern Spain. it is co-official with Castilian, as well as in border zones of the neighbouring territories of Asturias and Castile and Léon. Thank you, Google Translate and Wiki for providing me with the info I needed, as well as to the very late Tchaikovsky, who wrote the music for _Swan Lake_, a wonderful ballet that is worth seeing twice or more, if possible.**

**Hope you liked me putting Wolverine in there! This takes place after he lost his memory, so he only knows little bits about Kayla. It also references the fact that he went to Japan (according to the comics), hence, he knows Japanese.**

**OMG! Is Alex going to reveal his feelings to Kotoha at long last? Will the two finally get together? How will the Shinkengers...no, how will CHIAKI take this?**

**Right. I'm off to go take a course in learning how to shut up, but before I do...HAPPY 2012!**

**Chapter title: Jar of Hearts  
>Artist: Christina Perri <strong>


	14. Ugly

**A/N: HAPPY NEW YEAR! **

**IMPORTANT NOTICE: In honor of "The Hobbit" coming to theaters this year (December 14, 2012...darn you, Peter Jackson, for making us wait so long), my main focus will be my Lord of the Rings fanfics after I finish this last chapter (this chapter will likely go into the fight with Doukoku, which will be done AFTER I get to a good point with LotR).**

**Special features for this chappy: um...well...you'll see...**

**Oh! Something I should have mentioned a few chapters ago: In the chapter, True Colors (chapter 10), there was a brief mention of a woman named Jules Callaghan. Jules Callaghan is not an OC, and I claim no ownership of her in anyway. Jules Callaghan is a character in a Canadian police drama called Flashpoint, and she is played by Amy Jo Johnson, who played Kimberly on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.**

**kanna-chan owns nothing except for her OV, Hone Onna (well...I own this particular version of her at any rate. If you want more info, let me know)!**

**DriveRed and Morgana359: Your OC mutants are done for now...I won't say much more about them, except that they will be returning!**

**Enough of my babbling! On with the show!**

* * *

><p>Kotoha sighed to herself, as she practiced writing various kanji with her new Shodophone in her room.. She was so happy that Alex had put so much time and effort into helping Hank with it, and Daichi barked playfully, as little flowers fell from the kanji for 'flowers.' As she wrote different kanji, she couldn't help but wonder why Alex was being so nice. She wasn't complaining about it, but...did he like her? He ran and ran in circles, and Kotoha smiled, before she picked him up, and went downstairs to the library. And, once again, she had lost her way. Why did the mansion have to be so big?<p>

"You lost," Alex asked, coming up behind Kotoha, with Spike following him.

Kotoha jolted, before she said, "You startled me. I was trying to find the library, but I found another staircase, and-"

"Say no more. I'll walk with you." And with that, Alex walked Kotoha to the library. "It's a big place. This mansion, I mean. It's easy to get lost."

Kotoha laughed. "You're telling me."

"So why are you going to the library?"

"I need to do some research."

"On?"

"I...I just have this feeling. This sense of...dread, if you will."

"Dread? On what?"

"Chimatsuri Doukoku."

"Chima...what?"

"We really need to work on your Japanese. Chimatsuri Doukoku is the leader of the Gedoushuu, the monsters that I used to fight against with my former teammates as a Shinkenger. Doukoku...the seventeenth head of the Shiba House, Takeru's father, sealed Doukoku away using a special kanji. Takeru's father died doing this, and Takeru inherited the responsibilities of the eighteenth head of the Shiba House. But...I feel like something's wrong. Something is very wrong."

"What makes you so sure?"

"I think...I think that Doukoku is returning."

"You would be right," a voice said, as no one other than Mako Shiraishi walked through the front door of the Xavier Mansion.

"**Mako-chan,**" Kotoha gasped. She had not expected to see the pink samurai, or any of the Shinkengers, for that matter. "**What are you doing here? I thought you were in Japan, still, with Tono-sama,**" she said, with a cold voice.

"**Oh, Takeru will probably kill me for this, but I had to tell you. Well, two things, actually**," Mako explained.

"Doesn't anyone speak English anymore," Charles muttered, as he walked down the stairs. "I swear to-" he trailed off once he saw his cousin. "Mako? What are you doing here?"

"Good to see you, too, Charles," Mako sighed. "I need to talk to Kotoha. Alone."

"Anything you can say in front of her, you can say in front of us," Sean and Hank said together, as they came from different directions.

"Look, it's important that I talk to Kotoha alone about this. I don't want to put any of you in danger, and-" Mako was about to question Hank's appearance, but then thought better of it, before she noticed the looks on everyone's faces.

"We can handle it. The last few months here were pretty crazy," Alex explained, as he moved his hand so that he was holding Kotoha's. Kotoha jolted at the touch, surprised at first, but played it cool.

Mako looked at all the mutants. It seemed pretty clear that there was no getting through to any of them. "Fine. There's no getting through to any of you. But before I ask, are you willing to take up the duty that Kotoha and I took up? Are you willing to put your lives on the line to fight against Chimatsuri Doukoku?"

"Chima...what," Raven asked, coming from the kitchen.

Mako sighed, as she launched into the long explanation of Doukoku, and what happened in the last battle against him.

* * *

><p><strong>Ten Minutes Later<strong>

"So, what you're basically saying is that Doukoku's seal is breaking," Sean asked. Mako nodded.

"And you want us to help out," Hank asked. Again, Mako nodded.

"I'm...not sure how I feel about this," Charles sighed, as Raíña fell asleep on his lap.

Kotoha just looked down at the ground. She wasn't sure how she felt about it either. While Alex, Sean, and Hank said that they would do it, Kotoha wasn't sure. On one hand, it was her duty as a Shinkenger to fight against Chimatsuri Doukoku with her teammates. On the other hand, though, her teammates weren't technically her teammates anymore. They had left her at the Xavier mansion, and Kotoha was unsure what anyone except for Chiaki thought about mutants. Kotoha sighed, as Daichi looked up at her with his big brown eyes. Kotoha picked him up off the ground and scratched him behind the ears, as she sighed. "I agree with the Professor," she said, looking down at Daichi. She then realized she probably said something that she shouldn't have, picked Daichi off of her lap, and walked out of the room.

"What was that about," Mako asked, looking around at everyone else.

"No clue," Alex sighed. "I'll go talk to her. She's probably in her room."

"Alex," Charles said, "I think Mako should talk to her. They have to catch up. I think it's best that we leave them alone for a little while. Kotoha is probably in her room. Up the stairs, and it's the last door on the right."

"Thank you, Charles," Mako said, as she excused herself from the room, and went up the stairs to look for the last door on the right. She opened the door, and saw Kotoha looking in the mirror. Her shirt was halfway up, as her finger traced over something on her back. A scar. Daichi stood in front of the mirror, next to Kotoha, whimpering anxiously. "**Everything okay?**"

"**What do you think the answer to that question is****,**" Kotoha asked, as Daichi moved in front of her and growled at Mako.

"**We have to talk.**"

"**There's nothing to say.**"

"**Fine. You don't have to say anything. I'll talk.**" A moment of silence was shared between the two, as Mako suddenly got a better look at Kotoha's back, and what Kotoha was tracing.

"**You're surprised by my scar,**" Kotoha asked.

"**Did you-**"

"**I read your mind, if that's what you're asking. The shock was also fairly evident on your face.**"

"**What happened that made you get that scar?**"

"**Not important.** **If you want to talk so badly, talk.**"

"**Kotoha, we need you.**"

"**You've been doing just fine without me. I honestly don't see what the problem is. How did you even get here, anyway?**"

"**Kame Origami.**"

"**Oh. Anyway, why do you need me?**"

"**We can't fight against Doukoku without you. You know that.**"

"**And you know that I'm not a Shinkenger anymore. I haven't been since you and the others left the mansion all those months ago.**"

Mako eyed something on Kotoha's desk. "**Is that a Shodophone?**"

"**What's it to you?**"

"**If it is, you can-**"

"**No. Asking me to come and fight with you is one thing, but asking me _and_ my friends to come with you is a completely different thing. I refuse to put them in danger, and they're in less danger if I stay here.**"

"**Kotoha...**" Mako sighed, as she sat down on Kotoha's bed. Daichi barked at her, but Mako wrote the kanji for 'silence' and flung it at the dog. Daichi barked, but no sound came out. "**It'll wear off,**" Mako explained, looking at Daichi. "**We need you. Takeru needs you, Ryuunosuke needs you...heck, Genta needs you.**"

"**Three words: what about Chiaki?**"

"**I was really hoping you wouldn't ask that.**" Mako sighed. "**After we left...well, Chiaki...he's pretty much been the same. But whenever you come up, even if it's just a brief mention, he just shuts down. Won't even talk about you. He'll either spontaneously change the subject or just walk out of the room altogether.**** That's not the point, though. We can't fight without** **you.**"

"**Looks like you'll have to, then. I'm staying here. You could tie me up, but that wouldn't stop me from creating a huge earthquake and sending out a screaming telepathic message that I was being kidnapped.**"

Mako sighed. "**We'll have to finish this conversation later. However, I have a question. That blonde guy, Alex...is he your boyfriend?**"

"**My** **boyfriend?**"

"**Well, the way you were holding hands and stuff-**"

"**I mean...I really like him. A lot. I wouldn't say we're...you know...an item, or anything like that. And given the current climate...**" Kotoha ran a finger down her back where the scar was.

"**How did you get that?**"

"**That's a story for another time.**"

Mako sighed. There really was no getting through to her. The silence kanji that had been placed on Daichi had worn off, and he resumed his barking and growling at Mako. Mako didn't want to have to force Kotoha into leaving, and knowing that Kotoha had been training her powers for quite some time at the mansion, she didn't want to create any trouble, or get on bad terms with her cousin. "**Fine.**"

"**Fine?**"

"**We'll fight without you. Clearly I can't get you to come with me. You should understand, though, that as a Shinkenger-**"

"I AM NOT A SHINKENGER," Kotoha shouted at Mako, turning on the spot to face her. This caused Daichi to suddenly jump in alarm, as he ran out the door that Mako left open. "DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND? I HAVEN'T BEEN A SHINKENGER SINCE YOU AND TONO-SAMA AND THE OTHERS LEFT ME HERE!" Kotoha took several deep breaths.

"Kotoha, I-"

"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT! DO YOU HEAR ME _ASKING_ FOR YOUR SYMPATHY?" Kotoha took a deep breath, as she said, "Don't you understand? You did what you wished that your parents hadn't done to you when you were little."

"Kotoha, I-"

"Let me ask you something, and I want you to answer me honestly. Why did you do it?"

"Takeru needs us, Kotoha. Without us, the fight against Doukoku is-"

"Doukoku this, Doukoku that, whatever! Can't you take responsibility for what you did?"

"I had no choice! I was capable of fighting, and followed Takeru-"

"Oh, and I wasn't capable of fighting? I could have just as easily used my mutant powers against Doukoku. Oh, but wait, I heard someone say, 'We can't have someone who's different. Someone who's not human.'"

"Kotoha, I-"

"I think you should leave," Alex interrupted, as Spike ran through and started barking at Mako. Daichi stood behind Spike, and cowered behind him. Alex was positively fuming right now. What had reached the other mutants wasn't just the sheer volume of Kotoha's voice, but the telepathic projection of what she had just said.

"I regret to say this," Charles added, with Raíña at his heels, "but I agree. Your presence here is doing far more harm than good." Alex walked over to Kotoha, who appeared to have completely shut down, and helped her walk over to her bed. They sat down on the bed, and Alex gently rubbed Kotoha's back.

Mako sighed, as she shook her head. "Fine. I'll leave." Mako was just about to walk away, before turning around again. "But, Kotoha, if you're in there, listen up. You swore to a duty as ShinkenYellow. You swore to a duty to protect Takeru and fight against Doukoku. Those were promises you made, Kotoha. If you're not going to fight, I guess you really have given up on your duty." And with that, Mako walked out.

"Well, that could have gone better," Charles sighed. The sound of an engine turning on was heard, as Kame Origami rose back into the sky, no doubt headed back to Japan.

"Now what," Alex asked, as Spike followed Daichi on to the bed. Daichi rubbed his head against Kotoha's arm, but Kotoha was completely shut down. "I don't think she notices what's going on around her. After a confrontation like that, I don't blame her, but..." Alex tried waving a hand in front of Kotoha's face. No answer.

Tetomu tried as hard as she could to get through to Kotoha, but even she wasn't having much luck. So, she used her last resort. She took over Kotoha's body, and said, "_I've tried everything I could think of on the inside of her, but nothing is working._ _I can't even keep this hold on her body to use-_" Just as quickly as Tetomu took over Kotoha's body, Kotoha regained control subconsciously, and was back in her original state.

"What do you want me to do," Alex asked, not looking up from Kotoha. He turned her around so that she was lying down on her back.

"This doesn't seem like something I can help with," Charles sighed, as he looked at Kotoha. He rubbed his temples. "I don't fully understand what was said between them, given that I don't speak Japanese, but Mako probably said something that she shouldn't have. I don't want to play the blame game, but I think that that is the situation that we are dealing with."

"You know what," Alex asked, sighing.

"What?"

"I hate it when you're right."

"Sometimes, I hate it when I'm right, too." Charles took one more look at Kotoha, whose eyes had closed. "She's asleep."

"That's good, right?"

Charles nodded. "Let her be alone for a little while."

"Hell no. I'm staying here. I want to talk to her when she wakes up."

"It could be hours before she wakes up. You need your rest, too, Alex."

"Pardon my language, Professor, but fuck that. I'm staying with Kotoha."

Charles's eyes widened, as a look of realization dawned on his face. "You love her, don't you?" Alex nodded. He didn't even attempt to hide it. "What do you like about her?"

"Everything. She's pretty, she's smart, she's strong...she's so compassionate, and has such a big heart. The list could go on and on."

"Then, Alex, if you really love her like you say you do, you have to let her be for the time being. Trust me."

Alex sighed, seeing that he really didn't have much of a choice. He knew that there was a good way and a smart way to do things. The good thing to do was stay with Kotoha, and look after her, but the smart thing to do was to let her be. Alex sighed, as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Fine," he sighed.

"She won't be alone, you know. She has Daichi next to her." At the mention of his name, Daichi stood up on the bed, and walked over to the pillow, before curling up on the pillow and falling asleep near Kotoha's head. "We'll leave the door open a crack to let light in. Let her sleep."

* * *

><p>"<strong>Mako, where the hell have you been,<strong>" Ryuunosuke asked, as Mako walked inside the mansion. "**It's been at least twelve hours, and you were nowhere to be found!**"

"**Not now, Ryuunosuke,**" Mako sighed, waving him away. "**I'm not in the mood for it.**"

"**Did you-**" Ryuunosuke asked, but one look from Mako told him all he needed to know. "**So, she's really not coming?**"

Mako nodded. "**It looks like it's just the five of us.**"

"**That's not good,**" Genta said, walking in. "**Business wasn't great today. Seems everyone's down about something.**"

"**The Gedoushuu are getting to be more and more rampant, too,**" Chiaki added, as he followed Takeru inside.

"**We're screwed then,**" Takeru sighed. He walked over to Mako, who began to cry into his shoulder. He hugged her, ignoring the fact that Chiaki, Genta, and Ryuunosuke were watching.

"**What the-**" Genta gasped.

"**Tono-**" Ryuunosuke realized.

"**Finally told Nee-san how he felt! It's about time,**" Chiaki exclaimed.

"**Oi, shut up**," Takeru growled, as he hugged his girlfriend, who was crying.

"**But you guys are an item now, and-"** Chiaki was cut off, as Takeru took one hand out to write the kanji for 'silence' and flicked it at him.

"**That's better,**" Takeru whispered, as he hugged Mako.

* * *

><p>Kotoha rubbed her eyes and sat up in bed. It had to have been at least a few hours later at the Xavier mansion. She looked out her window, and saw that it was nighttime. Daichi was still asleep on Kotoha's pillow. Saru Origami was on Kotoha's dresser, and it hadn't moved from there since she had decided to stay at the Xavier Mansion. Kotoha sighed, as she scratched Daichi behind the ears. She remembered what Mako said, and thought about it. Mako was right. Kotoha really had given up on her duty. It was clear to her that Mako was right.<p>

Kotoha sighed, as she got out of bed. She knew what she had to do. She put Saru Origami in her pocket, gave Daichi a big hug while he was asleep, and slipped on a yellow sweater. She quickly changed into a pair of grey sweatpants and flat-footed sneakers. She took her Shodophone and wrote the kanji for 'paper,' and a sheet of yellow paper appeared. She scribbled a note on it, before quietly opening the door to her room. She walked out of her room, and quietly closed the door behind her. She prayed that she wouldn't get lost as she quietly walked towards the hanger where they saw Hank's jet, the _Blackbird_, for the first time.

It didn't take long until she had reached the hanger. She tried to pry open the door as quietly as she could, before looking at the massive aircraft, and wondering how she was going to fly it. "Going somewhere," a deep voice asked, as Kotoha jumped into a fighting stance. Beast stepped out of the shadows.

"Hank," Kotoha sighed. "Please. I have to do this."

"Then you're not going alone," Beast growled. "You don't know how to fly this thing."

"I can try!"

"You can't go alone."

"Watch me."

"In your dreams," Sean said, as he stepped out of the shadows.

"Did you really think we'd let you go off and do something like this on your own," Raven asked, as she walked to stand near Beast.

"As if," Alex added, following Raven, and Charles followed thereafter.

"We knew that you would try something like this," Charles explained.

Kotoha sighed. "I'm going. I don't want to use force to get you to let me go, but I will if I have to," Kotoha warned.

"Why are you doing this," Alex asked.

"I have to. Mako was right; I really have given up on my duty as a Shinkenger. I have to go back to Japan. Doukoku has returned, I can feel it."

"In that case, we're going with you."

"No, you're not."

"Kotoha, this is stupid! You can't do this on your own, you know that. I-"

"Don't you understand why I don't want you to go," Kotoha asked. "I don't want any of you to get hurt! You could die!"

"Oh, so it's okay for you to nearly die on us, but not for us to nearly die on you?"

"That's not how I meant it," Kotoha cried. "You don't understand!"

Charles sighed. This really wasn't going well. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, before he turned to face Raven, Sean, and Beast. "Let's let them talk alone. Let's go into the jet." The three mutants nodded, and they all piled into the jet.

"How did you mean it, then," Alex asked. He loved Kotoha, and he hated to see her hurt like this, but he had to go with her. He had to fight alongside her in the battle against Doukoku.

"I just..." Kotoha sighed, as she realized that he was right. "I just really don't want any harm to come to any of you. After Cuba..."

Alex sighed, as he walked closer to Kotoha. "We knew what we were getting into," he whispered, as he put a hand on Kotoha's cheek. "And we know what we're going into now. The Shinkengers...they're your friends, aren't they?" Kotoha nodded, and Alex added, "Then they need all the help that they can get. If Doukoku is as strong as you say he is, we're going, too. Besides," Alex grinned, "taking Doukoku on alone seems pretty stupid, don't you think? It'll take us a few hours to get to Japan, so it's best that we go now." Kotoha laughed quietly, and Alex did, too. He gave her a hug, as they walked into the jet, hand in hand. "Beast."

"Yeah," Beast growled.

"Let's go."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well, that's it! For now, at any rate. I have semester exams next week, and a few other stories I want to work on, so this will now be put on HIATUS!**

**Chapter title: Ugly  
>Artist: 2NE1 <strong>


	15. Hero

**A/N: Lol, I don't even know how long it's been...eh, whatever. I've kept you waiting long enough. Even I couldn't take the anticipation of waiting for the next chapter (and I'm the one writing it)! Let's see what my muse has in store for us.**

**kanna-chan owns nothing except for her OV, Hone Onna (well...I own this particular version of her at any rate. If you want more info, let me know)!**

**DriveRed and Morgana359: I hope you're ready for the return of your OC mutants! They are BACK! Yay! :D**

**Special features: special cameo of (insert-Sentai-team-whose-name-I'm-not-going to tell)! Sh...spoilers!**

**Enough of my babbling! On with the show!**

* * *

><p>"I hate planes," Kotoha mumbled. She lost track of time and wasn't sure how long they had been in the air. Somehow, she had a feeling that they were almost in Japan. She looked out the window to see several islands, but couldn't see anything in detail. She knew that once they started their descent, she'd be able to see better.<p>

"Look at the bright side," Alex said, sighing. He sat next to Kotoha, and Raven sat on the other side of Kotoha. "No one's trying to kill us." Kotoha gave him a look. "Okay, no one's trying to kill us yet."

Kotoha sighed. "I'm really nervous, to be honest. I mean...Takeru's father _died_ sealing Doukoku away. I...I just don't want anyone to get hurt."

"None of us want anyone to get hurt," Raven replied. "Hey, is that it? Those islands down there," Raven asked, pointing out to a few islands that Kotoha saw out her window earlier.

"Yeah, that's Japan," Kotoha realized. "My country."

"Beginning our descent," Beast shouted, as the plane slowly descended to the ground.

"About time," Sean muttered. "How long was that flight?"

"Let's just hope that bird-boy doesn't show up again," Hank growled. He still hadn't forgotten about Shane. The shape-shifter. "I worked too hard on this jet to get her back up and running."

"Well, as long as we don't open any windows or the Bombay doors, we should be okay," Kotoha replied, as she unbuckled herself to get a better look. She saw tons of explosions not too far off. "Tokyo," Kotoha gasped, noticing where the explosions were. "We have to get down there now!"

"We have to land first," Hank explained.

"I can't just stand here and let my team get hurt," Kotoha shouted. "Now open the damn Bombay doors before I have to use one of you to push them open!"

Just as Beast sighed, and was about to open the doors, they opened on their own. Kotoha raised an eyebrow, wondering who could have done it. No one knew where Magneto was, and if he was here, then she didn't know why he was helping. She didn't ask any questions, though. "Wait til we get above-" he trailed off as a bird flew in the plane. "Oh shit." The bird changed back into a boy. Shane. He then changed into a rat, and ran all over the jet trying to make Beast lose control. "Kotoha, jump!"

"You want me to jump," Kotoha shouted, as she held on to a part of the plane for dear life.

"Jump," Alex repeated, trying to protect everyone from the bothersome shape-shifter. He couldn't blast it without hurting anyone else.

Kotoha looked down. She swallowed hard, before looking at Charles, who the rat was currently trying to bite. He swatted the rat away, before looking at Kotoha and shouting, "Go! We'll meet you down there!"

She gulped, grabbed a backpack that looked like a parachute, strapped it on as fast as she could, closed her eyes, and jumped. She screamed the entire way down, unsure of when to deploy the parachute. She screamed and screamed and screamed, before she heard Charles in her mind, saying, "_Kotoha, deploy the parachute!_ _Now!_"

Not even bothering to send a response back, she deployed the parachute. She was still screaming as she went down, before she realized that she was going down slowly, and opened her eyes. She laughed at herself, as she looked down. She was getting closer and closer to the ground. Her descent was slow, until the bird that was in the plane managed to land on her parachute and scratch a hole through it with his talons.

Kotoha cursed under her breath, as the bird flew away, and she lost control of where she was landing. Her descent was gaining speed, as she reached out a hand and thought of a pillar coming up from the ground. She fumbled with the strap of the parachute as the pillar rose, before she finally got the parachute off and landed safely on the pillar. The bird flew away. "Yeah, you better run," Kotoha shouted at the bird's retreating figure.

She turned back to the battle. Her teammates hadn't noticed her yet. Kotoha wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but she could feel the pillar starting to break under her. She wondered if she could make a boulder or something levitate so that she could fly around on it. She quickly imagined a boulder breaking apart from the pillar, and just as she pictured, a boulder that could support her weight broke away from the pillar. She flew it around in circles for a test run, before flying over to the other Shinkengers.

She thought all was safe...until she saw a little girl with a bazooka in her hands. Ora. Ora looked at Kotoha, smirked, and fired the bazooka at the jet. "No," Kotoha cried, sure that her friends were dead. Or she was, until...

"**GOKAI CHANGE,**" six voices shouted. Kotoha looked to see the Gokaigers!

"**MUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTANT POWER,**" their phone called, as the Gokaigers' uniforms vanished, and they went back to their civilian forms with slight...differences. Ahim's pink get-up changed to black, and she phased through the building that she was standing on, before reappearing at the bottom of the building, coming up through the ground. Luka's yellow outfit was the same, but her short brown hair changed to white, and lightning crackled around her, as the sky grew dark. Joe grew in muscular stature, and his form became metallic. Playing cards appeared in Don's hands, and a deck attached itself to his hip. Gai's skin turned dark blue, and he grew a tail. Captain Marvelous's eyes were covered by a weird kind of sunglasses that resembled a visor. On either side of Marvelous's head were two buttons that were connected to the visor.

"No way," Kotoha stared, at Gai's figure, as he _poof_ed for a second, vanishing, and coming back to where he was originally standing, with the other mutants in hand. Gai _poof_ed back to the other Gokaigers. Ahim was currently sending Nanashi Renjuu crashing into buildings with her powers, while Joe knocked more out of the way with his metal body. Don sent playing cards that exploded on impact at the other Nanashi Renjuu, and Marvelous fired more beams from his weird visor thing. More still kept coming.

"They just keep on coming," Raven complained, as she ran to Kotoha. "Where's that shifter guy?"

"Right here," Shane said, sneaking up behind the two. "Two attractive girls...I really got lucky, didn't I."

"As if," Kotoha sneered, making a fist. Earth from the concrete ground instantly covered her fist and made a kind of rock-hard glove. She quickly punched Shane, and her punch hit his face, hard. When she removed it, there was a giant black and blue mark on his cheek. Shane could taste the blood in his mouth, and cursed under his breath as the two girls ran away. Kotoha opened her hand, and allowed the earth to return to where it came from.

Raven and Kotoha quickly ran behind a building. "How much time do we have til he tracks our scents," Raven asked, gasping for breath.

"No clue," Kotoha replied. She quickly peeked around the building to see that Shane had changed into a dog and was looking for them. "Not a lot. He just changed into a dog, and they're pretty good at tracking scents."

Raven cursed, before her eyes lit up. "I have an idea," she said, and she whispered her plan into Kotoha's ear.

"Do you think it'll work?"

"Only one way to find out." Blue rippled throughout Raven's skin, as she changed from her natural blue form into a complete and exact copy of Kotoha. "Our scents and stuff should be the same now," she said in Kotoha's voice, which made Kotoha gasp. "Considering I'm basically an exact copy of you right now, he won't know what hit him. You know what to do on your part, right?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Let's go." Kotoha took off as far away from the building as possible, and continued to try to head towards the fight with Doukoku.

Raven, still looking like Kotoha, used Kotoha's voice to call out, "Shane! Where are you?"

A small black terrier dog came up to Raven, before it stopped, lifted a leg, did its...business (which Raven averted her eyes for), and then shifted back into Shane. "Right here, beautiful," he said, with a big smirk on his face.

"Did you have to do your business in front of me," Raven asked.

"Hey, when you got to go, you got to go."

"True. Now, what's your business with me?"

"I want you."

Raven raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"I want you."

"Stay away from me. I'm not your property."

"You don't understand. You're so beautiful, sweet, and...your scent is so...mhm."

"My scent?"

"Shifter, remember?"

"Right." Raven was trying so hard to stay in character, and Kotoha would probably never, not in a million years, forgive her for what she was about to do. "Well, you know what to do if you want to make me yours, right?"

"Now we're talking," Shane grinned, as he pulled Raven towards him, and kissed her full on the mouth. Raven let it go on for about a minute, before she moved her hand up to his inside collarbone, and squeezed it, hard. He was knocked out within seconds, and collapsed in Raven's arms. She dropped him.

"Here's a tip," Raven said, changing back into her blue form. "Don't make out with a shape-shifter who can transform into other people." She kicked Shane's unconscious body, before running to see where Kotoha had gone.

* * *

><p>Kotoha looked around from behind yet another building to see that Shane had been taken care of. Raven quickly saw Kotoha, and ran to her. "You know I'm never going to forgive you for making out with him while you looked like me, right," Kotoha asked, raising an eyebrow.<p>

"Yeah, yeah, you can yell at me later," Raven shrugged. "Assuming we make it out of here alive."

"I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you," a voice said, and Raven and Kotoha jumped and turned around, only to see that it was Alex. "Relax, it's only me. You guys look like you saw a ghost."

"You do _not_ want to know what Raven just did," Kotoha sighed, as she hugged Alex in relief. Alex hugged her back, and smiled.

"Um...guys? I'm all for you being affectionate and stuff with each other, but I'm not sure if you've noticed one little thing: WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A WAR ZONE," Raven shouted, instantly alerting a large group of Nanashi Renjuu to their presence. "Oh..."

"Shit," Alex and Kotoha added. The two of them quickly exchanged a look and blushed.

"Did you just swear," Alex asked Kotoha in disbelief. "In English?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Kotoha instantly replied, as she raised a wall of earth and hurled it at the Nanashi Renjuu, running them over with it. "Let's go."

"Kotoha, wait," Alex said, grabbing her arm. Raven quickly realized what Alex was about to do, and ran off.

"Alex, we're in the middle of a war zone! What do you want?"

"I just...I'm not sure if we'll make it out of this, and there's something I really need to tell you."

"Again, middle of a war zone. Think you can make it short?"

"Kotoha...I like you!" Kotoha gasped, and her eyes widened. "I like you," Alex repeated.

"Alex, I...I like you, too," Kotoha stammered. She smiled shyly. She really did like Alex. But...why was there this weird nagging sense inside of her? She shook her head mentally, assuring herself that it was probably nothing, and that they were in the middle of a battle. "But now's not the time for this. Middle of a war zone, remember?"

"Right," Alex blushed. He laughed, before he said, "Let's go."

"Yeah."

Alex held out his hand, and KotohaThere were a few Nanashi Renjuu who got in their way as Alex and Kotoha ran to the other Shinkengers, but Alex quickly blasted them out of the way, and Kotoha ran them over with her powers. "Great," Alex sighed, finally seeing the other mutants, and quickly reuniting with them. "About...two, four, six...eh, twenty down, and a million more to go."

"Kotoha, we can handle things from here," Raven said. "Go get Doukoku."

"You sure," Kotoha asked.

"Positive."

Kotoha took a deep breath. She was finally returning to her duty as a Shinkenger. "All right," she said, clenching her fist. She ran towards the fight, and quickly went up to the top of a hill where a small building sat. She quickly saw kuroko getting the citizens out of the way. She pulled two aside that weren't busy. They looked shocked to see her, but knew what she needed at once. A pair of kuroko ran up with flags baring the Shiba family crest. The kuroko carrying the banners and flags ran in different directions as Kotoha changed. Drums were heard, as even Doukoku was caught off guard.

"**What the heck**," Takeru muttered, hearing the drums. All the other Shinkengers looked up in surprise as they saw the Shiba family crest.

"**We're all here, so then who could possibly be-**" Ryuunosuke trailed off, as he saw the kuroko with the front banner run off, revealing the person behind the banner.

"**Kotoha,**" Genta and Mako exclaimed. She was wearing a white _haori_ with a long, yellow, pleated skirt tied around her waist.

Kotoha took a deep breath, as she got out her Shodophone. "**Shodophone! Ippitsu Soujo,**" she shouted, as she traced the kanji for 'earth' with her Shodophone. Despite the fact that her Shodophone was new, just writing that one kanji made her feel as if she had been in Japan the entire time. She spun the kanji around, as it quickly formed her helmet and suit. She unsheathed her Shinkenmaru, as she shouted, "**ShinkenYellow! Hanaori Kotoha! Going forth!**"

"**No way,**" Takeru gasped. Even Doukoku was caught off guard, but not as much as the other Shinkengers were. In fact, Chiaki was the only person who wasn't surprised. He didn't even show a reaction. He just charged Doukoku alone, but was quickly pushed away by his blade. "**Damn,**" Takeru muttered, as he heard Chiaki fall to the ground.

Kotoha gasped, quickly raised a pillar of earth high enough for her to get on, got on the pillar, and descended to the ground. She looked hard at Doukoku through her visor. "**Numbers don't mean a thing,**" Doukoku sneered. "**You may be one more for your team, but it's just one more for me to kill.**"

"**We'll have to see about that, won't we,**" Kotoha countered, as she bared her Shinkenmaru. The other Shinkengers, except for Chiaki gathered around her. Although her teammates couldn't see it, her eyes changed to yellow, as rocks began to circle her head. She quickly hurled one of the rocks at Doukoku, only for it to be countered by a large wave of energy. "**Tono-sama! Everyone, get down!**" She quickly brought her hands up over head as she brought up a dome of earth, covering her teammates from the hit.

"**No way,**" Mako gasped, as the energy went over the dome. Kotoha brought the dome down, and pounded her fist into the earth, sending a seismic wave towards Doukoku, as he went up in the air, and then back down on his back.

"**It's still not enough,**" Genta complained.

"**Need a hand,**" a voice asked. Doukoku was caught off guard once again, as three people stood in the sunlight, each wearing an outfit that made them look as if they were a member of Super Sentai. There were two guys, who each wore a red Sentai outfit, and a girl who wore a blue Sentai outfit. "**Red Buster,**" the one in red shouted.

"**Blue Buster!**"

"**Yellow Buster!**"

"**Tokumei Sentai**** Gobuster,**" they all shouted together.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: And I think I'll end the chappy there. Things are just getting started, and the story should be winding up in either the next chapter or the chapter after that. AWWWWWWWWW... -cries-**

**Hey, no tears! Guess who has a sequel planned? This girl! But...I need your help! Here is your mission (should you choose to accept it): Review this story with what kind of crossover you'd like to see! Your options are Shinkenger/Underworld or Shinkenger/The Dark Knight!**

**Eagerly awaiting reviews! ~kanna-chan**

**PS: anyone like the little cameo I put in there? Gobuster is coming soon, so I figured I'd throw them (or what we know so far about them) in there!**

**Chapter title: Hero  
>Artist: Enrique Iglesias<strong>


	16. Enter

**A/N: Lol, I don't even know how long it's been...eh, whatever. I've kept you waiting long enough. Even I couldn't take the anticipation of waiting for the next chapter (and I'm the one writing it)! Let's see what my muse has in store for us.**

**kanna-chan owns nothing except for her OV, Hone Onna (well...I own this particular version of her at any rate. If you want more info, let me know)!**

**DriveRed and Morgana359: I hope you're ready for the return of your OC mutants! They are BACK! Yay! :D**

**Special features: um...hm...let's see what my muse has in store for us!**

**Enough of my babbling! On with the show!**

* * *

><p>"<strong>Tokumei Sentai...Gobuster,<strong>" Takeru muttered. "**Who are they?**"

"**No clue**," Ryuunosuke said, "**but I'm not complaining.**"

"**Ichigan Buster**," the Go-Busters shouted out, as an object that looked like a camera changed into a gun. They shot at Doukoku, and the shots hit the mark. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough.

"**Is that all you can do**," Doukoku asked, laughing.

The Go-Busters didn't answer, as they exchanged a look with each other and nodded. The red one ran away from the blue one with unbelievably fast speed; he looked as if he was teleporting! "No way," Sean muttered. The yellow one jumped higher than any possible human being possibly could, and the blue one picked up a giant boulder and threw it to the ground. The earth shook, and Doukoku went flying.

Mako used her heaven fan to keep Doukoku in the air, and Alex blasted Doukoku. "Nice shot," Kotoha said, joining Alex's side. The Yellow Go-Buster jumped up again and fired some shots from extremely high up, and the blue and red warriors followed up from the ground.

"It's still not enough," Hank sighed. "Now what?"

Suddenly, a giant pipe came up from the ground, and wrapped itself around Doukoku. "What the hell," Raven gasped. She looked around and saw...

"Erik," Charles gasped.

Erik still wore the helmet he took from the battle with Shaw. It took a lot of effort to hold that pipe around Doukoku, and Charles was beginning to see the strain on Erik's face. Doukoku broke free from the bind, and the force threw Erik back. Erik cursed in German, as Riptide, Azazel, and Angel followed up. The three on one fight went on, as the Super Sentai and mutants could only watch. Finally, Riptide managed to make a small crack in Doukoku's armor. Angel and Azazel were about to attack with what could have easily been the final blow, and when they did...

Shane threw himself in front of Doukoku. Angel's attack hit Shane in the stomach, and Azazel's tail pierced Shane through the heart. Shane's eyes widened, and they were dark. The iris of his eyes was gone, and his pupils were seriously dilated. He was possessed by Ora. He gurgled blood, as it came up and out of his mouth, before Azazel pulled out his tail and Shane slumped to the ground. He was dead. Ora laughed a merciless laugh, as she hissed, "Foolish humans."

"She...she...she..." Kotoha was speechless. Ora had just killed one of her comrades. Alex held Kotoha protectively, as Doukoku charged another attack.

A laser type thing came out of nowhere, and it hit Doukoku square in the legs. "What the hell," Beast muttered, as the mutants and the Super Sentai turned to look. A man was standing on top of a fallen building in a metal suit.

"**Uchuu Keijii...Gavan**," the metal man shouted out.

"**No way**," Gai shouted. "**It's Gavan! Space Sheriff Gavan!**"

"Gavan," Takeru asked his vassals, who stared at the metal warrior in wonder. None of them knew who the mysterious Metal Hero was.

"**Gavan Dynamic**," Gavan shouted, as he jumped off of the top of the building and his blade began to glow. He was headed right for Doukou, and Doukoku didn't have any time to defend himself as the blade created a giant crack in his armor. Ora screamed, as she ran in front of Doukoku and looked him square in the eye.

"Damn," Hank muttered. "We're screwed."

"How," Takeru asked, as the rest of his vassals and the other Sentai warriors followed him to Hank's side.

"You weren't there. The story is, though, is that Ora is a mutant who has mind control powers. All she needs to do is look at whoever she wants to possess. The good news is that she can only possess one person at a time, but..."

"In other words, we're screwed," Kotoha sighed. "And we don't have much time, either."

"What do you think we should do," the Yellow Buster asked.

"Fight," Charles replied.

"It's all we can do for now," Erik added, as he brought more pipes up from the ground and sent them flying. "I'll try to buy you some-"

"I wouldn't get your hopes up if I were you," a sinister female voice said, as she walked out from behind Doukoku. It was Hone-Onna, and in her hand was a thermos. She opened up the thermos, drank it, and then proceeded to turn around and puke her guts out. Everyone grimaced at the sight, even Doukoku. Suddenly, the vomit began to take shape, and when it was done, it formed a tall woman with long, dark hair, and the traditional garments of the Samurai.

"**Onee-chan**," Kotoha gasped, as the thing that posed as Mitsuba Hanaori held out its hand. A Shinkenmaru appeared in it, and she bared it.

"'Onee-chan,'" Alex asked, looking at the Sentai warriors.

"It's Japanese for 'sister,'" Mako explained.

"So this is who she was talking about," Charles realized. "But I don't get it. Isn't her sister dead?"

"You mortals are idiots," Hone-Onna laughed. "My power is to control the dead. There's a reason that they call me 'Bone Woman,' you know."

"What is your command," Mitsuba asked Hone-Onna in a voice devoid of all emotion.

Hone-Onna gave a cruel smile, as she looked at the Shinkengers and pointed a finger. "Kill," she ordered.

"Yes, my mistress," Mitsuba said, proceeding to raise her Shinkenmaru and run towards the mutants and Super Sentai. They all jumped out of the way, as she swung her Shinkenmaru in a circle.

"She's fast," Raven said to Kotoha.

"She was supposed to be ShinkenYellow," Kotoha explained. "When she got sick, I had to take her place. Then, when we went to America for the first time, she died."

"So she retained pretty much everything, then?"

"Most likely." Raven looked over her shoulder, and saw that Gavan, the Gokaigers (who changed back into their original forms), and the Go-Busters had all started to attack Doukoku. "You're planning something, aren't you?"

"Yeah, but you're probably not going to like it. I-" Raven was cut off as a series of gunshots rang out. The two looked up from their hiding spot. They couldn't see who it was, but the person was in some kind of black jet.

"Holy shit," Sean gasped.

Everyone turned to see where the gunshots hit. One shot hit Ora in the stomach, and the next hit her in the head. She sank to the ground in a heap. She was dead.

The second round hit the same targets in Mitsuba, just before she was about to attack Takeru. Takeru hit the floor, before looking up. Mitsuba gasped in surprise as she, too, sank to the ground. She was dead as well. Takeru ran towards Mako who stared at what was happening. "**Are you all right?**" Takeru asked the pink samurai.

Mako nodded. "**Just stay close to me,**" she said as she reached for Takeru's hand and held it.

The next two rounds created multiple bullet holes throughout Hone-Onna's body. She struggled to stay alive in the hopes to keep fighting, but her life's blood was bleeding out. "**Lord Doukoku**," she whimpered as she fell to her knees, "**forgive me. I have failed****.**" Another death.

Two final rounds rang out, but no one was really sure where they hit.

"Who the hell was that?" Sean and Alex asked as they ran up to Raven and Kotoha.

Kotoha couldn't answer. More gunshots rang out as Doukoku's body quickly became riddled by bullets. When the last shot hit him in the head, he was stunned. That's when all the warriors took their chance to attack. Gavan attacked, quickly followed by the Gokaigers and Go-Busters with follow-up attacks. Genta, Ryuunosuke, Mako, and Chiaki attacked, as Takeru began to trace the sealing character that would seal Doukoku away. Once their attacks hit and the sealing character hit Doukoku, Kotoha chose that moment to create an extremely thick wall of earth and send it at Doukoku with the sealing character.

Doukoku was slammed into the face of a cliff from the effects of the sealing character, and the effects of that were doubled from Kotoha's wall. "**It's finished,**" Kotoha breathed. "It's finished. At last."

"Not quite," Beast said grimly.

"What are you talking about," Kotoha asked.

Beast pointed toward one thing that Kotoha had not expected. Charles was lying in Erik's arms and looked as if he was in pain. "Charles," Kotoha gasped as she ran up to the Professor. "What happened?"

"Those gunshots," Erik muttered. "The last two rounds that were fired from that jet. They were heading towards me, and when I deflected them, one of them got Charles in his spine. Just above his legs."

"No," Kotoha whispered as she sank to her knees next to her teacher. Tears streamed down her face. "He's not going to die...is he?"

"I...I can't feel my legs. I can't feel my legs," Charles kept repeating as he was in a trance.

Erik swallowed and adopted a cold, hard, look. He carefully moved Charles over to Kotoha before he stood up. "Our work here is done. You're either with us, or against us. The humans are to blame for us to be in hiding. If society won't accept us, then we make our own," he said. Raven, who was next to Kotoha, made eye contact with him. "No more hiding."

Raven looked at Kotoha, and Kotoha didn't have to be telepathic to know what Raven wanted. "Go. It's what you want," she said as she smiled sadly at her friend, her sister.

"Do what she says," Charles gasped. "It's what you want."

"You promised you would never read my mind," Raven said to Charles.

Charles sadly smiled. "I promised a lot of things, I'm afraid. I'm sorry," Charles apologized.

Raven took a deep breath, steeled her resolve and held her brother's hand for a few moments before she hugged Kotoha and went to stand next to Erik. Those were all the mutants they were going to get for their cause. Erik and the other mutants who were going with him joined hands as Azazel teleported them all away. It was all over. If only it had ended with a true victory.

* * *

><p>"Professor," Kotoha asked, knocking on the door to one of the guest rooms in the Shiba mansion. "Professor, it's Kotoha. May I come in?"<p>

"**I don't think he's awake,**" Mako sighed. It was about a week later, and Charles had received the news that he would be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. He had been declared paraplegic; something he didn't take well. "**Let's let him rest.**" Kotoha nodded as she reluctantly followed Mako to their room. It felt weird for Kotoha to be back at the Shiba house. Alex, Hank, and Sean were staying at the Shiba house, too. "**Thank you so much for coming. I knew you would.**"

"**You were right. I am a Shinkenger.** **I'm sorry. I said some stuff I shouldn't have, and-**"

"**Don't worry about it**," Mako replied, as she opened the door to their room. They walked in and Kotoha dug through a drawer, pulled out a yellow shirt, and changed out of her other shirt.

When Mako saw the scar on Kotoha's back, she felt that she had to ask what happened again, but Kotoha beat her to it. "**You want to know, don't you?**" Kotoha asked. "**About my scar.**"

"**How did you-**"

"**Mind reader, remember?**"

"**So what happened? How did you get it?**"

"**I assume you heard about the Cuban Missile Crisis. I took a bullet for Charles. Fortunately for me, it didn't have the affects on me that it had on him. That scar was from the wound.**"

"**Kotoha...**"

Kotoha pulled on her other shirt and someone knocked on the door. "Kotoha?" Alex asked. "You in there?"

Kotoha looked at Mako, who told her to go with Alex and that they would talk later. Kotoha nodded as she opened the door and closed it behind her. "What's up?" Kotoha asked.

"The Professor's awake," Alex said. "He wants to talk to you."

Kotoha nodded as she followed Alex to where the Professor was. However, they didn't need to go far, because the Professor, who was currently seated in a wheelchair, was in the living room talking to Ji. Charles noticed Kotoha's presence, as he gestured for her and Alex to come up. "Kotoha," Charles smiled, as Kotoha and Alex walked forward. "I've been talking to your...mentor, and we think it's best that you stay here."

"What," Alex exclaimed. "Professor, you can't be-"

"Alex," Kotoha whispered. "He's right. I should stay here. I have to stay with my team."

"But..."

"Alex, it has to be this way," Ji said as he looked Alex straight in the eye. "Besides, it wasn't my idea. If I had it my way, Kotoha would be able to choose where she wanted to stay."

"But then who..." Alex trailed off as he turned to look at Charles and realized it was his idea. "Why?"

"Because this is where she lives. Here, in Japan. She's a samurai," Charles explained.

"But, but..." Alex stammered.

"Alex," Kotoha whispered as she hugged him. "I want this. Please."

"But..."

"We'll see each other again. Don't forget, you can come to Japan to visit."

Alex sighed, as he hugged Kotoha one last time. "The others are in the jet," the Professor said, as he and Alex walked out of the mansion. Kotoha sighed, as she looked at the jet that was on its way back to America.

"Goodbye...everyone," Kotoha whispered as she started to make her way back to her room. She was quickly stopped by Chiaki. "**What do you want?**"

"**I wanted to apologize. Kotoha, I...without you, it's been so...empty around here. I missed you. I want you back. I want to start-**"

"**I appreciate the apology. I can't forgive you, though. I can't help what I am.**** I'm a mutant. Mutant and** **proud. I-**" Kotoha was quickly pulled into a deep, passionate kiss before she gently pulled away. "**I can't. It's not right. I'm with Alex. You and I...we're not together anymore.**" And with that, Kotoha left a dumbstruck Chiaki in the hallway. A silent tear streaked down each of their faces. Things were never going to be the same with them anymore.

* * *

><p><strong><span>One Year Later, Xavier Mansion, U.S.A.<span>**

It was exactly one year after the events that took place in Japan. One year after Charles lost the use of his legs. One year after...everything. Three months after what had eventually developed into Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, a school for mutants who could be accepted by others and learn to control their powers, was shut down. Two months after Sean and Alex left for the military.

Things had gotten unusually quiet at the Xavier mansion. Well, unusually quiet for Hank, at any rate. It was strange. He couldn't always hear everything going on outside of the lab, but when he could, there were usually people chatting. Sean would be making a joke about something or other, Alex would want to slap Sean and tell him the joke wasn't funny, and Raven...

Raven.

Hank sighed as he looked out one of the windows on the third floor of the mansion. Despite her betrayal, Hank couldn't stop thinking about her. He couldn't stop thinking about what could have or even might have been. He heard the sound of glass breaking in the distance and sighed as he looked at his hands.

His _human_ hands.

Hank managed to develop a serum that suppressed mutations.

Not cured.

Suppressed.

Granted, it was the closest thing he could get to a cure. He didn't want to risk anything else. Mainly because the serum he had originally developed turned him blue and furry. The current serum only worked for a period of time, however. Hank did manage to figure out a reasonable dose that would work so that it could last for a whole day and be taken on a daily basis if need be. It even gave Charles the use of his legs back and he could use them until the serum wore off. Things had to be going great, right?

If only.

The serum also suppressed Charles's telepathy. While that seemed like a good thing for him at first, given that he couldn't handle the pain and fear of all the mutants who were out there and felt so alone, it also came with guilt. A super, seriously huge, gigantic amount of guilt. The guilt that he sacrificed his powers just so he could walk on his own two legs. A guilt that he continued to drown out day after day in copious amounts of alcohol. Charles continued to use the serum to the point where he had overdosed on it. Add overdosing on the serum to the alcohol, and...

_Ding dong_

The doorbell rang. A sound that Hank hadn't heard in so long; it seemed almost foreign to him. He jumped at the sound and wondered who it could have possibly been. Alex and Sean had enlisted in the military and they weren't due back for a while. There's no way at all it could have been Moira McTaggert. Charles had done a pretty good job in erasing her memories. Well, that's what Hank thought. The chances of it being a parent were next to none; given most parents had either picked up their children, and the children who had no homes to go to were taken back to an orphanage. Hank ran down the stairs.

_Dingdongdingdongdingdongdingdong_

The doorbell's ringing grew faster. It had to be important, whatever it was. "Give it a rest; I'm coming!" Hank said to no one in particular as he ran down the stairs to open the door. When he finally got to the door and opened it, he saw one person that he didn't expect.

"Long time, no s-_Hank_?" Kotoha gaped at him. She hadn't changed much over the course of a year. She had a yellow suitcase on wheels behind her. Her dog, Daichi, barked happily from his dog carrier, which was next to the suitcase. "What the...what happened? You were all blue and furry last time I saw you." Hank sighed. He was happy to see Kotoha; he really was. But she couldn't have come at a worse time. "What's wrong?"

"Kotoha," Hank said, "it's not that I'm not happy to see you. I mean, you came all the way from Japan. But..."

"But?"

"Things aren't going well right now."

"What do you mean? Where's the professor? Why is it so...quiet? I know Moira's gone, Alex and Sean enlisted in the army, and Erik and Raven are G-d knows where. They've been making the newspapers in Japan."

Hank sighed. "Come on in. You might want to sit down for this. Leave your bag by the door and feel free to let Daichi out." Kotoha let Daichi out in the mansion and followed Hank into the kitchen. The two sat across from each other at a table.

"What happened?" Kotoha asked.

"Let's just say that it's been a rather...eventful year. A lot has changed."

"Could you be anymore cry-" Kotoha was cut off by the sound of breaking glass.

"G-d," Hank muttered.

"Was that glass breaking that I just heard? It sounded like it came from upstairs." With that, Kotoha bolted for the stairs and ran to where she think she heard the sound coming from. She heard it again, and it was accompanied by a cough. Daichi followed Kotoha, but the minute that they got close to Charles's room, he whimpered and backed away. Kotoha was confused by the dog's actions until she smelled it.

Alcohol. Lots of it. The smell was so strong that she almost wanted to run outside just for the smell of fresh air. Kotoha shoved the door open and gasped at the sight in front of her. It was Charles, but...not quite.

His appearance had changed so drastically that Kotoha almost didn't recognize him. His hair had gotten unbelievably long and shaggy; not to mention greasy from what Kotoha could see in the extremely dim light. Kotoha had a feeling that this wasn't an attempt to save money on the electricity bill, although she wished it were. He grew facial hair in the form of a mustache and a beard or goatee; Kotoha wasn't sure. It was evident he was drunk and probably rarely left the room. "Professor?" Kotoha asked as she walked just a little bit more into the room. "Professor, it's me. It's Kotoha."

No answer.

She tried to reach him telepathically, but couldn't understand what was going on. Everything was a jumble. All sense of words and sentences that Charles possibly had seemed unbelievably disorganized in his mind. Charles was a powerful telepath, no doubt, but in a state like this, it was likely that any defenses were down.

"I tried to warn you," Hank said sadly from the doorway.

Kotoha jolted at the sound of his voice, and apparently, so did Charles. Charles suddenly got up with more speed than Kotoha ever thought someone could move with, and grabbed Hank by the lapels of his shirt. "Hank!" Charles shouted in a voice so loud and so hoarse it made Kotoha jump. "It's not enough! I need more! I can still hear them! I NEED MORE! I-" Charles jolted as a slight shock went through his body. He collapsed on the floor and fell asleep.

Hank sighed, "Thanks."

"His mind is completely mixed up," Kotoha commented. The two walked back downstairs to the kitchen. "I can't make sense of anything. And since when could Charles stand on two feet?"

Hank sighed again before he filled Kotoha in on everything that happened over course of the year.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: And...that's it! Well, that's where I'm leaving it for now. Hahaha -evil laugh- it's getting interesting, right? I'm going to do a crossover to serve as a sequel (or conclusion, thus making a trilogy...not sure yet, though). It's called _Overdose_, and it's ANOTHER Shinkenger/X-Men crossover. There might be some M rated bits in there, but I'm not quite sure. I'm still outlining it. My hope is that it will be better than my Shinkenger/Avengers crossover. However, if your X-Men withdraw can only be contained for so long, check out my X-Men story, _Again and Again_! I plan on doing a sort of "deleted scenes" type thing with this story at some point. It's pretty much things that could have happened and I didn't write, or things that you want to see happen that I didn't write, and things I just didn't think of in general and didn't write. **

**If there's anything in particular you want to see happen (it can even be letters between Kotoha and anyone at the mansion) let me know! These probably will be out of order of the actual story, given that I'll be writing them as I think of them/get them from you guys.**

**R&R! TTFN!**

**~kanna-chan**

**Chapter Title: Enter  
>Artist: Within Temptation<strong>


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